The Impact of National/Subnational Cultural Contexts on Early

The Impact of National/Subnational Cultural Contexts on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): A Comparative Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Lebanese and Danish ECCE Educators

by Morten Greaves

B.A. in Scandinavian Studies, July 2001, The University of East Anglia B.A. in Social Education, January 2011, University College Copenhagen M.A. in in Ed. & H.D. International Education, August 2013, The George Washington University

A Dissertation submitted to

The Faculty of The Graduate School of Education and Human Development of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education

May 20, 2018

Dissertation directed by

Colin Green Associate Professor of Curriculum and Pedagogy

The Graduate School of Education and Human Development of The George Washington

University certifies that Morten Greaves has passed the Final Examination for the degree of Doctor of Education as of January 19, 2018. This is the final and approved form of the dissertation.

The Impact of National/Subnational Cultural Contexts on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): A Comparative Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Lebanese and Danish ECCE Educators

Morten Greaves

Dissertation Research Committee:

Colin Green, Associate Professor of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Dissertation Director

Lionel C. Howard, Associate Professor of Educational Research, Committee Member

Brian Casemore, Associate Professor of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Committee Member

Acknowledgements

This dissertation is dedicated to my wife Rasha. This study would never have been possible without her. It is also dedicated to my two children, Thurayya and Odin, who provide me with daily reminders of the marvel that is early learning.

I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to my advisor Dr. Colin Green, who provided me with unwavering support throughout the writing of this dissertation. Dr. Green never accepted any ‘shite’, but was always supportive of my ideas, and provided me with constant critical feedback that allowed my ideas to develop into their current form.

Additionally, I would like to thank the two members of my dissertation panel, Dr.

Howard and Dr. Casemore. Even prior to writing my dissertation, they have both been supportive of my ideas and have always given generously of their time.

Dr. Joel Gomez has played a crucial role in my development as an educational researcher.

Throughout the course of my Master’s and Doctoral degrees, Dr. Gomez has been an inspiration to me, and he has helped me to understand what it means to be a scholar in the field of education.

I would also like to thank the four research participants, Mariam, Leila, Alice and Basma, for being so generous with their time, and being so open about their experiences. I intend this study to be a testament to the excellent work they do on a daily basis.

Finally, I would like to thank the faculties of the Graduate School of Education & Human

Development, at the George Washington University, and the Skovtofte Pædagogue

Seminarium. This research would not have been possible without the support and tutelage of all the excellent educators that I have come in contact with during my studies. I feel

iii that my experiences at these two institutions of higher learning are a testament to the transformative power of education, and for these experiences I am grateful.

Abstract

The Impact of National/Subnational Cultural Contexts on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): A Comparative Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Lebanese and Danish ECCE Educators

This study positions itself in the field of international/global Early Childhood

Care and Education (ECCE). The early years of child development constitute what is often viewed as the most significant developmental period of the entire life-cycle. Studies have pointed to a range of benefits that ECCE programs can provide, leading to a greater interest in the field of ECCE globally. International/global ECCE is predominantly determined by Western derived theories and programs. Some Western derived ECCE programs assert their universal applicability, but there is criticism and opposition to the perceived ethnocentricity of these programs. Such resistance raises fundamental questions about what forms globally orientated ECCE programs should take.

This exploratory comparative case-study explores the lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators in Lebanon and Denmark, as well as the habitus from which these arise. These constructs were investigated through the use of a qualitative, comparative, embedded-design case-study. In-depth phenomenological interviews, structured and unstructured observations/participant-observations and document analysis were used to collect data. The data was analyzed thematically utilizing open/axial/selective coding and a priori themes.

The four participants’ perceptions converged with regards to the perception that child-educator ratios have implications for ECCE praxis. All the participants held that their approaches to ECCE were child-centered, although their interpretations of what constituted child-centered praxis differed. The participants believed that parents play an

v important role in ECCE, but the relationship between educator and parent is not always easy. Finally, all the participants felt a deep love for ECCE, and had done so ever since they first came into contact with the field. The Lebanese and Danish cases diverged on their perceptions of ECCE curriculum and whether or not they believed that ECCE praxis is an extension of motherhood.

Keywords: early childhood education, international education, critical theory, teacher perceptions, lived-experiences, early childhood development

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………. iii

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………... v

List of Tables……………..………………………………………………………… viii

List of Figures……………...……………………………………………………….. ix

List of Photographs...……………………………………………………………….. x

Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………... 1

Chapter 2: Literature Review………………………………………………...... 34

Chapter 3: Methods…………………………………………………………………. 104

Chapter 4: Findings…………………………………………………………………. 142

Chapter 5: Cross-national Comparison and Interpretations………………………… 265

References…………………………………………………………………………... 310

Appendices………………………………………………………………………….. 329

vii

List of Figures

Conceptual Framework…………………………...... 9

Model for Literature Review……………………...... 40

Conceptual Framework………………………………………………...... 103

Robert Yin’s Basic Types of Designs for Case-Studies…………………………….. 116

Robert Yin’s Multiple-Case Embedded Design Case-Study………………………... 117

Observer’s Rendition of Chestnuts and Mat…………………………...... 218

Danish Grading Scale Compared to European Credit Transfer System…………….. 239

Conceptual Framework……………………………………………………...... 301

Revised Conceptual Framework……………………………………………...... 305

viii

List of Tables

Methodical Literature Review………………………...... 41

ECCE Literature Search…………………………………………………………….. 44

International and Global Education Literature Search……………………………… 63

Lived-experiences Literature Search………………………………...... 77

Literature Search Educator Perspectives in ECCE…………………………………. 86

Table of Data Collection Methods……………………………………...... 129

Data Collection and Analysis Procedure…………………………………………… 155

Mariam; Themes and Sub-themes…………………………………...... 161

Leila; Themes and Sub-themes……………………………………...... 179

Cross-case Comparison #1; Mariam and Leila……………………...... 195

Alice; Themes and Sub-themes……………………………………...... 211

Basma; Themes and Sub-themes…………………………………………...... 235

Cross-case Comparison #2; Alice and Basma………...... 254

Cross-National Comparison/Contrast………………………………………………. 267

List of Photographs

View of Lebanese Kindergarten from Playground…………………...... 154

View of Infirmary, Playground and Lower Entrance from Lebanese

Kindergarten………………………………………………………………………… 155

KG3 Classroom……………………………………………………………...... 156

KG3 Cubby Holes and Bathroom…………………………………………...... 156

Example of Lebanese Children’s Artwork……………...... 174

KG2 Writing Exercise………………………………………………...... 184

Lebanese Classroom Rules…………………………………………...... 193

The Danish Kindergarten…………………………………………………………… 204

Danish Institution’s Interior………………………………………………………… 206

The Danish Playground……………………………………………………………... 206

Name Tag…………………………………………………………………………… 209

Danish Cloakroom………………………………………………………………….. 210

Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview of Study

This study positions itself in the field of international/global Early Childhood

Care and Education (ECCE). The early years of child development constitute what is often viewed as the most significant developmental period of the entire life-cycle

(Bowlby, 1988; Soudee, 2009), where the cognitive foundations of the mature human condition are formed (Chomsky & Piaget, 1980). Historically, Early Childhood

Development (ECD) was the domain of the biological family (Cannella, 1997), but studies have pointed to a range of benefits that ECCE programs can provide, leading to a greater interest in the field of ECCE globally (Schweinhart, Barnett, Belfield & Nores,

2005; Siddiqi, Irwin, & Hertzman, 2007). The United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) currently advocate for the global expansion of access to ECCE programs.

ECCE in the Western world is rooted in the field ECD, with the work of seminal thinkers such as Erikson (1950, 1980), Piaget (1945, 1954), and Vygotsky (1962, 1978) still playing an influential role today (Brostrom, 2014 Oun, Ugaste, Tuul, & Niglas;

2010). However, the advent of globalization has created an increasingly interconnected world (Giddens, 1990), which in-turn is creating more culturally diverse societies than those which Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky were documenting (Beck, 2000). The complexity of modern societies demands inclusive theoretical perspectives with which to think about ECCE in a globalized world (Ho, Campbell-Barr, & Leeson, 2010; Kim,

Kim, & Maslak, 2005). Yet the field of international and global ECCE is still predominantly determined by Western derived ECCE theories and programs (Boyd,

2013; Hall, 2008; Thao &). Some Western derived ECCE programs assert their universal applicability (National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC),

2009), but there is criticism and opposition to the perceived ethnocentricity of these programs (Hoffman, 2003; McMullen, Elicker, Wang, Erdiller, Lee, Lin & Sun. 2005.

Such resistance raises fundamental questions about what forms globally orientated ECCE programs should take.

A case can be made that the current global proliferation of Western models for

ECCE has its roots in the colonial practices of Western countries during the 1800s and

1900s (Hegde & Cassidy, 2009; Said, 1978, 1993; Subramanian, 2014). The global applicability of Western centered models of ECD and ECCE is further complicated by research which demonstrates that ECCE praxis is strongly influenced by the socio- cultural background of the practitioner (Erikson, 1950; Izumi-Taylor, Lee, &

Franceschini, 2011). Such findings seem to suggest that more culturally inclusive approaches to ECCE need to be developed if UNESCO is to meet its first Education for

All (EFA) goal of expanding and improving early childhood care and education, especially for the most disadvantaged children1. The need for more culturally inclusive

ECCE praxes is also highlighted in Maggi, Irwin, Siddiqi, and Hertzman’s 2005 WHO report, in which the authors state that in order to ensure a more inclusive approach to international and global ECCE, a global level discussion on ECCE strategies is required.

It is an aim of this study to contribute to this global discussion.

1 http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=22012&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html 2 with the position that perceptions and praxes in the field of ECCE are deeply entwined with the educators’ lived-experiences and habitus and that these are determined by the national/subnational context in which the lived-experiences take place (Perold, Oswald,

& Sawrt, 2012). The lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes were examined by using a comparative, embedded-design case-study research design (Merriam, 2009;

Yin, 2013). I collected data for this study through in-depth phenomenological interviews

(Seidman, 2006), structured and unstructured observations/participant-observations

(Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011), and a document analysis of ECCE curricula and national research in the field of ECCE in both countries (Merriam, 2009). Photographs of the classrooms (not people) were also taken and analyzed in conjunction with my other observations (Merriam, 2009). The collection of multiple different types of data conforms to data triangulation (Denzin, 1978; Kim, 2011; Maxwell 2013). Data triangulation was carried out to increase the trustworthiness of this qualitative research (Merriam, 2009). In this study the ECCE educator is the unit of analysis, with the educators’ lived- experiences, perceptions and praxes being sub-units in an embedded design (Yin, 2013).

Two ECCE educators in each country were drawn from the same institution. This was done to ensure comparable theoretical perspectives and levels of training among the in- country participants. The research findings supported this supposition. The data was analyzed thematically, utilizing both open/axial/selective coding and priori themes

(Aronson, 1995; Merriam, 2009; Miles & Huberman, 1994). Data analysis followed

Creswell’s (2014) spiral method, whereby analysis was an ongoing process, running parallel to the data collection and report writing.

Statement of the Problem

ECCE is an important and emerging field globally and investments in ECCE are deemed to give large economic returns for nation-states (Siddiqi, Irwin, & Hertzman,

2007; The United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 2001). As a part of their EFA program, UNESCO is pushing to increase global access to ECCE programs

(Fiske, 2000) ECCE programs offer a range of potential benefits, including the reduction of child mortality rates (United Nations, 2001), decreasing the negative influence of low socio-economic status (Schweinhart et al., 2005) and improving children’s educational outcomes during primary education (Soudee, 2009). To be effective, it is deemed that

ECCE programs must meet established universal criteria for high-quality, but the nature of such universal criteria are often disputed, due to the complex and often contradictory nature of ECD (Fees, Hoover, & Zheng, 2014; Hoffman, 2003). Such universal criteria are often interpreted narrowly and have been criticized as being ethnocentric, valuing

Western theoretical orientations over those prevalent in other cultures, and thereby failing to acknowledge the values and requirements of particular national and subnational contexts (Burton, 2012; Subramanian, 2015).

To better comprehend how ECCE programs can be employed internationally and globally it is important to establish how national/subnational environments influence

ECCE educators’ views of ECD and ECCE, and this study attempts to address this gap in the research. Research supports the idea that the lived-experiences of educators have a direct influence upon their perceptions and praxes (Perold, Oswald, & Swart, 2012).

Additionally, cultural and national contexts play a central role in determining notions of high-quality ECCE (Izu, 2006). Increased understanding of how lived-experiences in

4 different national contexts influence ECCE educators’ perceptions, and how perceptions influence ECCE praxis, will provide important information about how ECCE programs can be tailored to meet national/subnational requirements, and thereby improve their global applicability.

Purpose and Research Questions

This exploratory study documents, analyzes and compares the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of two ECCE educators in a Lebanese institute and two

ECCE educators in a Danish institute. The data collected aligns itself with the position that direct linkages can be made between the national/subnational context of the ECCE educators’ lived-experiences and their perceptions of and interactions with the children in their care. There appears to be a dynamic relationship between the social context and the perceptions of the ECCE educator, with each national/subnational context giving rise to a range of perceptions. Before conducting this study, I postulated that the differing histories and demographics of Lebanon and Denmark were such that they could potentially give rise to distinct perceptions of ECCE and ECCE praxes and that these differences could be substantial enough to enable distinct interpretations of established ECD and ECCE theories to develop in each country (Weng & Len, 2013).

The following research questions and sub-questions guided this study into the problem of how national/subnational context shapes ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes:

1. What are the professional lived-experiences and habitus of two Danish and two

Lebanese educators?

 How are these ECCE educators’ lived-experiences and habitus similar to and

different from each other?

2. What are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE and what are their

praxes?

 How do the educators’ habitus influence their perceptions?

 How are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE similar to and

different from each other?

 How do these perceptions influence individual praxis?

Theoretical Framework

The epistemological framework used for this research study is Critical Theory.

Critical Theory is a broad field, encompassing a multitude of sub-disciplines that can be combined in a range of permutations dependent upon context. Critical theories are primarily concerned with the evaluation of freedom, justice and happiness in societies. A key figure in the tradition of Critical Theory is the French philosopher, psychologist and social theorist Michel Foucault (1967, 1974, 1977, 1980). Foucault is best known for his analysis of social institutions in France; creating analyses of their historical formation and examining the social forces that allowed them to survive and flourish. It is Foucault’s

(1980) notion of discursive regularities that plays a key role in this particular study.

Foucault notes how public discourse is often characterized by its superficial unity. He stipulates that when one questions such unities, they lose their self-evidence and that by tearing away the virtual self-evidence of discursive unities an entire discursive field can be reimagined and reformed. My examination of the unities presents in the field of international and global ECCE, particularly focusing upon the vaunted universal applicability of Western models of ECCE, is informed by Foucault’s approach to

6 discourse analysis. This approach allowed me to critique and rupture standard notions of

ECCE (Irwin, Siddiqi, & Hertzman, 2007), via the examination of the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators in Lebanon and Denmark.

Alongside Foucault’s approach to discourse analysis, Pierre Bourdieu’s (1984,

1992) two theoretical concepts of habitus and field were employed in this study.

Bourdieu postulates that habitus corresponds to the individual’s taste. He views the notion of personal taste to be intrinsic to all social actions, dictating their form and rooted in the individual’s personal (lived) experiences and the individual’s place within a social hierarchy. The formation of a child’s habitus is dictated by the modes of conduct, social- interactions, world-views and utilization of goods and commodities that the child is exposed to. The habitus functions as a cohesive synthesis of the individual’s lived- experiences, giving rise to “an affinity of style” (Bourdieu, 1992, p. 8) that signals to the world the individual’s background and place within a specific social order. The individual is often not consciously aware of this process, as habitus is, for the individual, the natural outcome of his lived-experiences. Habitus is formed upon the basis of a constantly shifting array of discursive formations, generated in individual social fields through positioning. These discursive formations dictate the social knowledge that exists in each social space at a given time. As participants in a field grow old and pass away new participants join the field, ensuring the dynamic and temporal nature of these structures. However, new members of a particular field have had their habitus formed by the previous generation and this accounts for the relative stability and cohesion of specific fields and social systems over time.

The habitus of the research participants, along with the fields that give rise to them, were studied through a phenomenological analysis of the participants’ hermeneutic interpretations of their lived-experiences (van Manen, 1990). Hermeneutics is, according to van Manen (1990), the theory and practice of interpretation. Van Manen describes hermeneutics as being inherently critical, in that it tries to resolve misunderstandings and romantic because its primary focus is the recording and interpretation of the thoughts of the participant. These two goals are achieved through the researcher being “sensitive to the subtle undertones of language, to the way language speaks when it allows the things themselves to speak” (Van Manen, 1990, p.112). It is hermeneutic phenomenology’s ability to listen sensitively and deeply that makes it a suitable tool for educational research.

The two theoretical concepts of habitus and field were used as part of my conceptual framework, which contained the five constructs that I wished to study. These five constructs are: the socio-cultural context/fields in which the ECCE educators live and work (Bourdieu, 1993), the educators’ own hermeneutic interpretations of their lived- experiences (van Manen, 1990), the educators’ habitus (Bourdieu, 1994), the educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE, and the educators’ praxes in the ECCE classroom. The five constructs were interpreted through a Critical Theory lens (Foucault, 1974; Boudieu,

1984). Obtaining insight into how ECCE in Lebanon and Denmark have developed to their current state allowed me to contextualize the educators’ lived-experiences and place them in a historical context. The lived-experiences of the ECCE educators “are related to each other like motifs in the andante of a symphony” (van Manen, 1990, p. 37). The related nature of lived-experiences allows them to be compared across time and space

(Giddens, 1990). Additionally, the lived-experiences of the participants provided me with insight into their habitus; the educators’ habitus did in fact seem to dictate the ECCE educators’ perceptions and their perceptions had an influence upon the ECCE educators’ modes of praxes within the context of the ECCE classroom. It should be noted that the term habitus appears in this paper both as a theoretical concept and as a theoretical construct. Habitus as a theoretical construct should be viewed as an operationalization of

Bourdieu’s (1994) theoretical concept and conforms to his ideas on the embodiment of cultural capital in the individual habitus. Whereas Bourdieu’s concept of habitus serves as the foundation for his macro-level social analysis, in the context of this study habitus is used to explore the unconscious nature of the participants’ views on childhood, which are rooted in their lived-experiences within a specific national/subnational context.

Through the examination of the subtle interactions between lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions, and praxes of the participating ECCE educators in Lebanon and

Denmark, it became possible to more completely understand the role that national/subnational culture plays in informing ECCE praxis internationally and globally.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1. Model of Conceptual Framework

Researcher Subjectivity

Of key importance when conducting qualitative research is the role of the researcher and the researcher’s own subjectivity in relationship to the study (Maxwell,

2013). Qualitative research deals with human relationships in a way that quantitative research does not (Miles & Huberman, 1994), and the lived-experiences of the researcher can therefore influence the researcher’s perceptions of the subject matter under investigation, influencing the countless decisions made during research and interpretations of the data (Fraser, 2007; Maxwell, 2013). To counteract the potentially negative influence of researcher subjectivity, I utilize a subjectivity statement in which I depict my own professional background and lived-experiences. In addition, throughout the data collection phase of the study I kept a reflexivity journal, in which my own experiences and ruminations over the data collection process were recorded. The subjectivity statement and the reflexivity journal were used during data analysis to help minimize the risk that my interpretations of the data were not rooted in my own personal biases as a researcher.

Summary of Methodology

In this study, I utilized a qualitative research design to answer my research questions, because qualitative research focuses on understanding how people interpret their experiences and structure their world-views (Merriam, 2009). For this research study, I utilized the case-study research design, due to its flexibility (Merriam, 2009), and its ability to incorporate and analyze multiple types of qualitative data in a single research design (Yin, 2013). I conducted a multiple-case embedded design case-study. In this

10 embedded design the unit of analysis was the ECCE educator, with their lived- experiences, perceptions and praxes of the ECCE educator functioning as the sub-units of analysis.

Two educators were studied in both Lebanon and Denmark. The educators in each country were drawn from the same ECCE institute. Before conducting this study, I posited that drawing the educators from the same kindergarten would ensure the internal consistency of levels of ECCE training and the theoretical backgrounds of the ECCE instructors in each country, and this position was supported by the data that I collected. I utilized three primary data collection methods: in-depth phenomenological interviews

(Seidman, 2006), observations/participant observations (Yin, 2013) and document analysis (Merriam, 2009). The interviews conducted were based upon Seidman’s (2006) phenomenological interview guide. The first interview focused upon the participants’ lived-experiences and upon the national/subnational context in which the participants’ lived-experiences took place; the second interview examined the participants’ habitus, and the influence of habitus upon the participants’ perceptions; the final interview asked the participants to reflect upon their perceptions of ECD and ECCE praxis and to explore how they feel their perceptions influence their interactions with the children in their care.

The interviews were semi-structured and followed an a priori protocol (see appendix B).

Prompts were used to expand upon answers given by the participants (Merriam, 2009).

For the collection of observational data I mixed observations with participant- observations. Observations typically involve the researcher observing and notating events as they unfold in real-time in their natural context (Merriam, 2009). During participant- observation, the researcher is not merely a passive observer but actively participates in

11 the phenomenon of study, making observational notes after participation is complete

(Yin, 2013). During observations I sat in the classroom and (based upon my observation protocols) took notes of what was occurring within the context of the ECCE classroom.

During participant-observation I was not merely a passive observer, but instead I actively participated in the day to day activities in the classroom and recorded my observations post hoc. I recorded in the observation protocols what type of observations were conducted each day. To avoid a mechanistic approach to deciding when to adopt a particular method of observation, as such an approach could reduce the flexibility of the method and potentially lead to important observations or experiences being missed, I ensured that at least 30% of the time was spent using each method. Observation protocols guided both observations and participant-observations (see appendix C). The primary source of data for this study came from the interviews, with the observational data being primarily used to support or contradict data from the interviews.

Document analysis was also used to gather data for this study (Merriam, 2009).

The primary aim of the document analysis was to determine the contours of the national discourse on ECCE in each country. This was achieved by collecting and analyzing research and curricula from each country. In addition, educational materials and equipment within the ECCE classroom were analyzed through observations and the use of photographs. Documents were located through my formal and informal interactions with staff members, the observations and the interviews. These documents provided contextual information about the ECCE environments in which the participants work.

The use of multiple data sources is one of the key characteristics of the case-study

(Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011; Merriam, 2009; Yin, 2003), and the use of multiple

12 modes of data collection allows for the triangulation of data. The advantages of data triangulation are threefold. First, data triangulation is carried out to increase the trustworthiness of qualitative research, by reducing the risk that conclusions drawn from a study merely reflect the biases inherent to a single method of data collection (Merriam,

2009). Second, data triangulation provides information about different portions of the phenomenon under investigation, which can add nuance to the researcher’s analysis. In this way triangulation ensures a more robust analysis because the study is not limited by the constraints of one mode of data collection. Third, triangulation ensures that emerging themes must be present in multiple data sets to be considered pertinent. This also increases the trustworthiness of the research (Yin, 2013).

Due to the use of multiple data collection methods, I carried out data analysis on a broad array of qualitative data. This was achieved by using thematic analysis (Aronson,

1995). Due to the quantity of data that I collected, thematic coding played a key role in managing and organizing all the information gathered (Merriam, 2009). My analysis strategy stemmed from my research questions and the theoretical/conceptual framework

(Yin, 2013). I used both a priori and emerging themes to analyze the data collected. The a priori themes stemmed from my research questions: lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions of ECD, perceptions of ECCE and praxis. These themes served as the basis for my cross-national comparison. All data was analyzed and organized with these key themes in mind. In addition, as my analysis progressed, comparable themes began to emerge due to my use of open, axial and selective coding. Open coding is the preliminary labeling of any unit of data, axial coding is the process of relating categories and properties to each other, and selective coding develops core categories, propositions,

13 and hypotheses (Merriam, 2009). Analysis was ongoing, both during the data collection period and upon completion of the data collection. Emerging themes were occasionally incorporated into my data collection protocols. This was done to enhance the richness of data that I collected (Creswell, 2014). Data collection at each site took 6 weeks, 3 weeks per ECCE classroom. After 1-2 days of initial ECCE institute observations I began my observations of the first classroom. At the end of the first week of observations I conducted my first interview. Each week followed the same pattern until the three weeks had passed. At this time, I moved to a new classroom with a new educator and the process began again.

Research Findings

The findings of this study align with the position presented in my conceptual framework; that the habitus, perceptions and praxes of the ECCE educators are informed by their lived-experiences, and these lived-experiences were in-turn influenced by the socio-cultural context in which the educators lived. The unique nature of lived-experience leads to distinct modes of ECCE praxis, which are in alignment with the national/subnational curricula, but also display personal idiosyncrasies, rooted in the individual educator’s unique habitus and perceptions of ECD and ECCE. Despite the personal nature of the educators’ lived-experiences, perceptions, praxes and habitus, there were notable uniformities that presented themselves in my cross-national comparisons.

Summary of Findings

In-country case comparison.

Lived-experiences.

The lived-experiences of Mariam and Leila (the two Lebanese educators) resemble each other greatly. Both have mothers who worked in education and both share a critical view of their own personal experiences of ECCE. Both have some negative recollections of their own formative experiences with ECCE, and although both educators say that they enjoyed their time in formal education, they found the Lebanese national

Baccalaureate exams to be highly stressful. Upon successfully passing the Baccalaureate examinations, both Mariam and Leila immediately began their post-secondary education, and although Mariam and Leila studied different subjects (Mariam studied elementary education and Leila studied child-psychology) they were both obliged to complete work placements as a part of their course requirements. To do this, both Mariam and Leila chose to return to their former schools. Additionally, as soon as they finished university both educators received employment as Teacher Assistants (TA) at the kindergarten where my data was collected. The position of TA afforded both educators the opportunity to study the praxes of the ECCE homeroom teachers who they worked with. After having had the opportunity to observe and learn from watching homeroom teachers at work,

Mariam and Leila became homeroom teachers themselves. Neither Mariam nor Leila has ever worked at another ECCE institution.

Alice and Basma’s (the two ECCE educators from the Danish institution) childhood experiences do not resemble each other. They grew up in different countries, speaking different languages and experiencing different school systems. Alice had many

15 negative experiences during her formal schooling and feels that she was negatively targeted by her teachers because she was dyslexic. Basma has very positive memories of her time in formal education, even though she admits that the school she attended was authoritarian, with corporal punishment frequently being used to discipline the children.

What is common for both educators is that they did not go straight into their current professions after completing formal schooling. Both educators had other types of work experiences prior to entering the field of ECCE. However, Alice took a more direct route to becoming a qualified ECCE educator than Leila, with Leila completing her training approximately eight months before I began my data collection.

Praxis.

The classroom praxes of Mariam and Leila resemble each other closely, because they both utilize the same model of differentiated instruction. Many of the subtle differences in praxis that I observed can be attributed, at least in part, to the different requirements made of the different age groups at the kindergarten. The use of diagnostic educational techniques plays a key part in the daily praxes of Mariam and Leila, and both educators constantly scan their pupils to see which of the children are struggling with the educational content. Although Leila uses the same types of diagnostic techniques as

Mariam, she is also very interested in the holistic psychological development of the children. Leila’s interest in ECD can in part be attributed to her background in child- psychology and also to the fact that the academic requirements made on Kindergarten grade 2 (KG2) classes are less than for KG3. Both Mariam and Leila share the same approach to discipline and classroom rules. They both consider these issues to be

16 important and spend a lot of time everyday reinforcing the nature and importance of the school rules to the children.

Alice and Basma both enjoy doing music and movement (rytmik) activities with the children in the ECCE institution and do so frequently. They both seem able to seamlessly transition from one activity to another, synthesizing a series of smaller activities into a coherent whole that keeps the children occupied over prolonged periods of time. Alice and Basma both see play as being central to their praxes because they both view play as a domain where children learn and develop. They both think that it is important for the ECCE educator to participate in child’s play, and they feel that in ECCE it is important for the educator to strike a balance between play and adult controlled activities. For long stretches of time during the course of the day, children interact/play together at the institution, irrespective of their ages, but during the educator led activities the children are typically divided according to their age and ability. Although both Alice and Basma utilize this approach they have diverging views on its efficacy, Alice feels that in order to conduct high-quality ECCE praxis it is necessary to divide children up according to their age. Basma on the other hand wishes that they did not have to split the children up as much as they do, because she feels that there are clear benefits to integrating the different age groups.

Perceptions of ECD and ECCE.

Despite the many similarities between Mariam and Leila, the two educators diverge when it comes to their perceptions of play. Although both Mariam and Leila express an interest in play and even on occasions participate in the games of the children,

Mariam seems to see play as something essentially separate from ECCE, an opportunity

17 for the children to relax away from the rigors of academic work. Leila on the other hand, perceives play as a domain where she can observe and thereby better understand the individual psychologies of each child. Therefore, she includes more free-play time in the classroom during a typical day than Mariam. This is made possible because Leila’s academic timetable is less demanding than Mariam’s and it seems clear that if Mariam was afforded the luxury of time she too would include more free play in her classes.

Despite the uniform requirements of the kindergarten’s curriculum, both Mariam and

Leila voice the opinion that young children learn in a multitude of ways. For both

Mariam and Leila, there seems to be a fundamental tension between their belief in multiple ways of learning and the fact that the curricular content which they deliver to the children is often relatively uniform.

Alice and Basma also believe that children learn in unique ways. Alice believes that it is her job as an ECCE educator to tailor her praxis to the individual requirements of the children in her care. Basma strongly supports the idea that children learn in different ways and remarks that there are a number of advantages to not thinking too rigidly about how children learn. Basma feels that adults are often too quick to put children in boxes and stigmatize them with regards to their abilities. Alice and Basma enjoy having freedom of method and feel that it allows them to tailor their praxes to meet the specific needs of the children in their care. However, Alice remarks that with freedom of method it can sometimes be hard for her to have insight into the work carried out by her colleagues, whereas Basma is very comfortable with freedom of method and perceives that all the staff members at the kindergarten contribute in different ways.

However, Alice and Basma agree that reflection time in ECCE is important and both the

18 educator’s feel that the lack of time which is currently allotted to planning and group reflection is detrimental to their individual praxes.

Habitus.

For the purposes of this study habitus is defined as the unconscious predispositions that arise due to the lived-experiences of the individual (Bourdieu, 1994).

The key distinction between predispositions rooted in habitus and perceptions more broadly is that predispositions rooted in habitus are unconsidered and accepted by the participant as being axiomatic. In contrast, perceptions are to a greater degree subject to conscious reflection and critical analysis. I posit that Mariam and Leila’s views on child aptitude and ECCE’s connection to motherhood meet the criteria of predispositions rooted in habitus. Both Mariam and Leila are products of an education system where high-stakes testing and discipline play a central role in praxis. Although both educators express the belief that children learn in a multitude of different ways, both Mariam and

Leila perceive children’s learning/abilities as falling into ternary categories (low, average and high achievers). For example, Mariam feels that she can quickly discern if a child is a high, average or low achiever. Additionally, Mariam and Leila perceive their praxes as being an extension of motherhood. This perspective seems to inform Mariam and Leila’s praxes in positive ways (they are very affectionate with the children in their care), however, this approach can undermine the position of ECCE as a profession, as it reinforces the view that ECCE is women’s work and less worthy of recompense than other forms of education (Hannaway, Steyn, & Hartell, 2014; Pei-Wen, See, Jyh-Chong

& Ling, 2015).

A predisposition rooted in habitus that both Alice and Basma seem to share relates to their belief that the Danish approach to ECCE is uniquely beneficial to children.

Alice grew up in Denmark and has not lived elsewhere. Despite not having experienced

ECCE praxis in other countries, Alice believes that the Danish approach to ECCE is uniquely placed to meet the individuated needs of the child and, thereby, helps foster uniquely creative children. Basma has had different lived-experiences to Alice as she grew up in Pakistan and experienced a different educational system there. What is interesting to note is how Basma, during her initial years of studying and working with

ECCE in Denmark, transitioned and changed her perspectives and habitus towards ECD and ECCE, and today, shares Alice’s belief that the Danish model of ECCE is uniquely placed to meet the individuated needs of kindergarten aged children.

Summary of findings from cross-national comparison.

In this section I summarize the findings of my cross-national comparison of all four educators and note uniformities in the data.

Child-educator ratios.

All four cases agree that in the field of ECCE education child-educator ratios have important implications for the quality of the educator’s praxis. Mariam notes that over the past several years her class sizes have increased considerably and that being responsible for large groups of children is not easy and has implications for her ECCE praxis. Alice shares Mariam’s feelings that poor child-educator ratios negatively affect the quality of

ECCE praxis. For Leila, the size of the class and the different needs of the different children mean that she has to make a concerted effort to give attention to the quieter children and discipline becomes an important component of praxis. Basma feels that the

20 problems associated with poor child-educator ratios is compounded by the lack of space available at the Danish kindergarten.

Child centered praxis and the evolution of ECCE.

Another area where all the cases agree is that their ECCE praxes are more child- centered and affectionate than they themselves experienced as children. Basma recalls her own schooling as being very strict, educator centered, and punitive. Conversely, Basma’s own perspectives on ECCE and ECD, with Basma articulating the position that all children learn in different ways and it is the job of ECCE educators to help them. Mariam also experienced a strict approach to ECCE in her own childhood, which is very different to her own praxis, where care and affection play a significant role in all of her interactions with the children in her charge. Alice has unfavorable recollections of her own childhood experiences in ECCE and her own approach to ECCE is more child- centered and less focused upon concrete educational outcomes than what she herself experienced. Alice tries to help children to learn irrespective of their strengths. Leila’s own experiences with ECCE were markedly different to the way she herself approaches

ECCE. Her school was stricter and less child-centered, with the educators focused upon completing a given program, irrespective of whether the children had comprehended the content or not.

Role of the parents.

Another important area of agreement between all four educators is the important role that the child’s family plays in ECCE. Alice sees the child’s family background as playing a central role in the child’s learning and development. She feels that parental interactions with the kindergarten staff have changed over the years, and that parents take

21 up more time in the daily life of the institution than they did previously, often wanting immediate feedback on their children’s progress. Leila feels that parents play an important role in ECCE, but like Alice she feels that parents want to have instant responses to their questions about their children. Additionally, Leila feels that sometimes parents find it difficult to be objective about their own children, making it hard for the

ECCE educator to communicate effectively with them. Mariam also feels that she can have trouble communicating with some parents when their children are having academic or social problems in class, but she feels that if there are any academic or behavioral problems with a specific child then the parents should always be involved. Basma feels that it is her job as an ECCE educator to put the parents at ease, because they are placing their children in her care.

Love of ECCE.

A final issue, shared by all the educators, is their love of working with ECCE. All the educators participating in this study experienced an immediate feeling of connection to the field of ECCE. Basma felt an immediate interest in ECCE, even though it took her some years before she became involved with ECCE in a professional capacity. Leila was attracted to the idea of working with children even before she had any real experiences in the field of ECCE. Alice had some negative experiences during her own formal education, but feels that from the start she had a strong affinity with ECCE. Mariam did not initially train to become an ECCE educator, but upon entering the field she felt a love for the children and a strong attraction to the work.

Summary of cross-national contrast.

In this section, I summarize the findings of my cross-national contrast of all four educators where I examine key divergences.

Curriculum and learning materials.

Differing uses of curriculum and teaching materials is a key point of contrast between the Lebanese and Danish ECCE practitioners in this study. Although all the educators work with comparable age groups, their praxes often differ markedly and thereby also the educational experiences of the children in their care. Much of this disparity seems to be due to variations in the formal curricula used in the two kindergartens. The Lebanese kindergarten draws its educational objectives from a national curriculum, which is based upon the French Brevet and Baccalaureate curricula.

The curriculum utilized in the Lebanese kindergarten focuses heavily on English, French and Arabic learning, along with mathematics. Such an approach is at odds with that seen in the Danish ECCE institution, where the educators are granted complete freedom of method to achieve the desirable educational outcomes, as long as their praxis conforms to some overarching educational themes that are set by the Danish ministry of education.

There are no text books or work books at the Danish institution. Instead, all formal content is transmitted through the often spontaneous interactions between the ECCE educators and the children, particularly during the organized activities, circle-times or meal-times. Danish is the sole language of instruction in the Danish kindergarten, whereas in the Lebanese Kindergarten the children are exposed to Arabic, French and

English on a daily basis.

Gender and professional identity in ECCE.

Another way in which the educators in Lebanon and Denmark differ is how they perceive their professional roles as ECCE educators. Both Mariam and Leila consider the role of the ECCE educator to be, at least partially, an extension of motherhood. They both explicitly use the analogy of motherhood when talking about the role of care in ECCE.

This perception seems to create an environment where ECCE is viewed as a solely female pursuit and where the archetype of motherhood and the need to love the children in the institution, become key components of the practitioners’ professional identities, irrespective of their other more academic qualifications.

In the Danish kindergarten, ECCE practice does not seem to be viewed as a form of surrogate motherhood. During the data collection, none of the personnel made any reference to viewing ECCE as being a feminized profession and Alice stipulates that she feels that her job is well respected in the local community and that she receives much positive feedback for the professional work that she does. It should be noted that despite the recognition that the Danish educators receive for their work, working in ECCE in

Denmark is not as well remunerated compared to jobs in other fields2. In comparison to the Lebanese cases, the Danish educators in this study do not seem to embody typical modes of proper mothering (Cannella, 1997). Cannella defines the concept of proper mothering as a constructed “…[d]iscourse…that young human beings must have a particular, universal set of early experiences to survive, “ and continues to say that, “An almost mystical importance was placed on the role of the mother” (p. 72). Instead of embodying such a gendered narrative, the Danish cases seem to have developed a strong sense of ECCE professionalism, rooted in professional pride and the positive support they

2 https://www.bupl.dk/bupl/content.nsf/mob/0E8C14D5450EEBB2C1257D6A004C720E 24 receive from their local community. Basma commented that she feels she is a different person when she is in her home-environment, compared to when she is at work. Alice uses less overt signs of affection, compared with Mariam and Leila, and considers care to cover a broad array of behaviors, not just giving affection to children. The work of the

Danish educators does not seem to suffer overtly from the fact that they seem to maintain a professional distance from their work. Both approaches seem to be beneficial to children in ECCE programs.

Interpretations

In this next section, I present my interpretations of the data collected for this study. The intention of my research interpretations is to create linkages between the micro-level events presented in my elucidation of collected data, and the macro-level research and theoretical considerations expounded in my literature review and theoretical framework. These interpretations serve as the foundation for proposals that I make for organizations/stakeholders in the field of international/global ECCE, on how I feel they best can support the introduction of ECCE programs in international/global settings, while still respecting the important role played by national/subnational culture in ECCE.

Interpretation #1: ECCE; many approaches, one positive outcome.

From and international/global perspective it is important to think about why there are so many positive educational and developmental outcomes linked to ECCE

(Campbell et al., 2002), particularly given the adaptability of early learning (Gopnik,

2009), the diversity of national/subnational contexts (McMullen et al., 2005), and the broad array of possible approaches to ECCE (Hedge & Cassidy, 2009). It can be said with some certainty that all young children seem to be born with the innate capacity to

25 learn (Chomsky, 1982; Gopnik, 2009; Piaget, 1958; Yang, 2006; Vygostsky, 1978), irrespective of the mode of ECCE to which they are exposed (Campbell-Barr & Leeson,

2010; Tazouti, Viriot-Goeldel, Matter, Geiger-Jaillet, Carol & Deviterne, 2010; Kim,

Kim, & Maslak, 2005), or even if they remain at home with their families (Schweinhart et al., 2005). It seems that learning in ECCE is not just linked to subject content, as it primarily is at the later stages of formal education. Instead, the young child seems to synthesize a broad array of learning domains, from subject content and motor skill development, to social interactions and how to follow rules within a classroom context

(Erikson, 1950; Gardener, 2006; Gopnik, 2009). This fact would seem to permit the use of many different approaches to ECCE to achieve the beneficial outcomes that ECCE programs provide (Irwin, Siddiqi, & Hertzman, 2007), such as the structured and content based approach seen in the Lebanese institution, or the freeform approach seen in the

Danish institution.

Interpretation #2: Against universal ECCE standards.

The flexibility of early learning seems to support such different approaches to

ECCE and permits ECCE programs to be tailored to meet the unique educational requirements of each national context. ECCE does not have to be uniformly delivered at the international/global level to ensure its positive effects (Paiva, Schneider, Machado &

Perinzzo, 2009). ECCE curriculum should therefore be closely linked to the overarching goals of a particular national/subnational education system. These overarching nationally mandated education goals may be in line with internationally accredited standards, but

ECCE’s primary connection should be to the national/subnational education goals, and thereby the needs of the host society that the education system is preparing the child to

26 enter (Bourdieu, 1994). Such a conclusion speaks against the global application of any single ECCE curriculum, such as Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP).

Educational problems seem to arise when entire formal education systems are rooted in practices and content derived from another national context. The Lebanese education system is a useful example to demonstrate this point. The Lebanese education system is based upon the French Brevet/Baccalaureate system (a remnant from

Lebanon’s colonial history), and educators are granted little flexibility in their praxes, because of the demands made by the established curriculum. In the day to day life of the

Lebanese ECCE institution, this fact causes tangible difficulties that ECCE educators must constantly negotiate.

Interpretation #3: high-quality ECCE; a plurality of approaches.

There is a broad consensus that to be effective, and to offer the multiple benefits associated with early learning, ECCE programs have to be of high-quality (Bennet &

Neuman, 2004; Ho, Campbell-Barr, & Leeson, 2010; Lenn & Hayden, 2009).

Determining the contours of high-quality ECCE is not easy and there are many different strategies to trying to maintain ECCE program quality. Such strategies include utilizing a systematic approach to ECCE (Bennet & Neuman, 2004), employing a child-centered approach to ECCE (Horvai, 2010), having adequate resources and ECCE friendly facilities (Paiva et al. 2009) and having qualified educators (Davis 2012). The data collected for this study demonstrates how broadly such indicators of high-quality ECCE can be interpreted, and point to the diversity of approaches to ECCE that can effectively be employed in any given national/subnational context.

Interpretation #4: hybrid models of ECCE.

The data collected for this research study seems to suggest that ECCE is highly adaptable, open to multiple valid interpretations, and can be beneficial in a number of different forms, dependent upon the national/subnational context, the lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes of the ECCE educators, and the culturally specific requirements of a given education system. This conclusion is at odds with the blanket application of specific Western models of ECCE such as Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and the French Brevet/Baccalaureate, and highlights ECCE’s ability to be tailored to meet the specific requirements of a given national/subnational context. There are important domains that high-quality ECCE should address, including preparation for school, care, play and formal academic content, but the way these domains are to be addressed should be dependent upon contextual demands. Such a position seems to suggest that an appropriate way to proceed for organizations like UNESCO, who wish to initiate ECCE programs globally, is to utilize a hybrid approach to ECCE curriculum design (Fees, Hoover, & Zheng, 2014). The use of hybrid ECCE curricula, focusing upon key developmental/learning domains and quality indicators, would allow for some coordination of content and praxis at the international/global level, ensuring that ECCE is of high-quality, while still allowing local cultural/academic content to inform ECCE at the micro-level.

Statement of Potential Significance

The findings of this research study align with the position that ECCE educators’ lived-experiences influence their perceptions and praxes, through the mediating construct of habitus. Such a finding is important at a time when international organizations such as

UNESCO are advocating for universal access to ECCE. The findings of this research suggest that there are many valid approaches to ECCE that can be adopted in any given social space, and approaches to ECCE should be selected that best match the overarching goals and objectives of a given national/subnational education system. Such a conclusion speaks against the blanket application of a single ECCE curriculum internationally/globally, and instead supports the utilization of hybrid models of ECCE.

A flexible approach to ECCE, utilizing hybrid theories and curricula designs, will allow certain uniformities to exist in the field of international and global ECCE, facilitating the organization and implementation of ECCE programs globally, while maintaining and fostering the unique influence of local culture. This is significant if UNESCO is to meet its stipulated EFA goal of increasing global access to ECCE programs, without simply imposing Western style programs that can be culturally at odds with the host culture

(Fees et al., 2014). By fostering an appreciation of the subtle ways in which national/subnational contexts influence the caring behavior of adults, it will be possible to gain deeper theoretical insight into the fundamental nature of ECD and ECCE.

Internal Review Board and Informed Consent

The research that was carried out for this doctoral dissertation, according to the

George Washington University (GWU) Internal Review Board (IRB), qualified as human subject research. The activities that I carried out for this study constituted a systematic investigation, with at least 4 human subjects, and the procedures that I conducted involved data collection and analysis, making this study subject to GWU IRB approval.

The GWU IRB approves, monitors, and reviews behavioral research that involves human subjects. The purpose of GWU IRB is to assure that fitting steps are taken to protect the

29 research participants from harm. Due to the international focus of this study, I also had to follow the IRB protocols that are used in Denmark and Lebanon. Both Denmark and

Lebanon use the same IRB protocols as GWU. As a student of GWU I was obliged to garner consent from the research sites before IRB approval was given. To garner site participation I sent an introductory letter to the prospective ECCE institutions in Lebanon and Denmark (see appendix A). This introductory letter provided a general overview of the goals and methods that guide this study. Following site approval, the GWU IRB reviewed my research proposal to ensure that it lived up to the ethical standards required of behavioral science research (see ethics, Chapter 3). Upon receiving GWU IRB approval, prior to the start of data collection, the prospective research participants were presented with an informed consent form (see Appendix A), in which the data collection process and potential for harm and risk were outlined. Before data collection commenced the participants signed the informed consent form. Participants were clearly informed of their right to leave the study at any juncture and were assured of their anonymity. During the course of my data collection, I would have informed the GWU IRB of any events or changes that could have influenced the content or methods of this study, but this issue did not arise.

Delimitations of the Research

This is an exploratory study, which provides thick descriptions of the lived- experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators in Denmark and

Lebanon. This study does not contain quantitative data, the results of which could be inferred to a larger population. Although such research would have value, I chose to focus on qualitative data collection for this study, in order to explore the variations in

30 lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes that occur with individual ECCE educators. The results of this study could perhaps serve as the foundation for future research that could employ some quantitative data, with broader ramifications for the field. Multiple combinations of cross-national research can be conducted. I chose to collect data in Lebanon and Denmark, because of time constraints, resources available, and access. In the future, it would be interesting to carry out similar research in other countries, perhaps on a larger scale.

Limitations of Research

The exploratory nature, small sample size and limited external validity of the research design mean that the potential for transferability of data to other similar contexts is reduced. However, this study provides rich and in-depth context specific information about the four cases that will be comprehensible to others working in the field of global

ECCE. The use of purposeful sampling, to gain access to data-rich research sites

(Merriam, 2009), means that the two sites cannot be considered representative of their host countries. ECCE is a complex field and within each host country there are a broad range of theories, praxes and types of ECCE institutions (Izu, 2006). This study is not capable of documenting the dynamic and eclectic nature of these fields, even though the criteria used for selecting useable research sites are designed to locate typical cases

(Merriam, 2009). The primary focus of this research is to explore the implications of national/subnational culture in the formation of ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes.

The field of Critical Theory provides a valuable lens through which a researcher can evaluate freedom, justice, and happiness in societies (Ingram & Ingram, 1992).

However, the field has also been described as being normative. Critical Theory claims that all knowledge is historical and yet it posits that an ahistorical basis for critique is possible (Larsen & Wright, 1993). Although it was my stipulated goal to use the analysis of the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators to critique and rupture established ECD/ECCE theories (Foucault, 1980), I am a product of the same

Western culture and educational system that I am attempting to critique. Although I used my subjectivity statement and researcher journaling as a tool to unmask my own biases, the habituated nature of my preconceptions about the field of ECCE could potentially weaken the trustworthiness of this study.

Definition of Key Terms

 Early Childhood Development (ECD): the physiological, cognitive and social

development of children from 0-8 years of age.

 Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): the formal modes of praxis

conducted by ECCE educators in ECCE institutes.

 ECCE educators: trained professionals who work in the field of ECCE.

 ECCE institutes: public or private institutions that provide professional,

curriculum driven, ECCE services.

 Global: designates policies, programs and issues that concern the entire world.

 Globalization: the processes by which the world is becoming increasingly

interconnected, leading to increased business, technological and cultural

exchanges between different countries in the world and to individual nations

becoming increasingly multi-cultural (Beck, 2000).

 Grid: Foucault (1974) asserted that the totality of social interactions in a given

temporal/geographical space give rise to a constantly evolving grid of socially

contingent knowledge.

 Habitus: Bourdieu (1992) equates his notion of habitus with that of individual

taste. Individual taste is intrinsic to all social actions, dictating their form and

rooted in the individual’s personal (lived) experiences and the individual’s place

within the social hierarchy.

 International: designates policies, programs and issues that concern multiple

countries or regions.

 Lived-experiences: individual reflections upon temporality and Dasein (life-

world); a configuration that cannot be derived from the summation of its

component parts (gestalten) (Heidegger, 1927).

 National ECCE: the forms which ECCE can take within the confines of a specific

nation state.

 Perceptions: the special abilities of the psyche that play the main part in bringing

about our picture of the world, forming the basis of our actions.

 Praxis: the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, embodied, or

realized

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction to Literature Review

The earliest years of development are often viewed as constituting the most critical developmental phase of the entire life-cycle (Bowlby, 1988; Soudee, 2009), where the cognitive foundations of the mature human condition are formed (Chomsky &

Piaget, 1980). Historically, these earliest years of development have been the domain of the biological family (Cannella, 1997; Durkheim, 1912; Foucault, 1978; Freud, 1913), but studies, such as the High/Scope Perry Preschool Study (Schweinhart et al., 2005) and the Abecedarian Project (Campbell, 2002), have pointed to the numerous positive benefits that Early Childhood and Care and Education (ECCE) programs can have for children and this is creating a greater interest in the field of ECCE, not just domestically, but also internationally and globally. One goal of The United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Education for All (EFA) program is the expansion of access to ECCE programs globally. UNESCO stipulates that “education is a human right for all throughout life and…access must be matched by quality”3.

ECCE in the Western world has its roots in the field Early Childhood

Development (ECD), with the work of seminal scholars such as Erik Erikson (1950,

1980), Jean Piaget (1945, 1954), and Lev Vygotsky (1962, 1978) still playing a predominant role in defining the contours of ECCE research and praxis today (Brostrom,

2014; Oun, Ugaste, Tuul, & Niglas; 2010). However, the advent of globalization has created an increasingly interconnected world and facilitated an increasing multiculturalism in individual countries (Beck, 2000). This has a direct influence upon

ECCE praxis in individual countries, as educators attempt to adapt their praxes to meet

3 https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-21st-century 34 the needs of multi-cultural children (Lin & Bates, 2010). Globalization is creating more complex societies than those which Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky were documenting in the last century and this seems to demand new theoretical perspectives with which to think about ECD and ECCE internationally and globally (Giddens, 1990). Although models for ECCE, such as Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), claim to be universally applicable, there is criticism and opposition to the perceived ethnocentricity of such approaches and it raises the question as to what form international ECCE should take (Hoffman, 2003; McMullen, Elicker, Wang, Erdiller, Lee, Lin & Sun, 2005). DAP stipulates that ECCE should prepare children for the requirements of K-12 education by focusing upon the key academic areas of language, literacy and mathematics. DAP uses assessable standards to ensure that academic requirements are being met (National

Association for the Education of Young Children, 2009).

The posited ethnocentricity of Western models of ECCE can complicate how practitioners in the field think about the issue of high-quality praxis. There seems to be a broad consensus within the field that ECCE programs, to be truly beneficial, must be of high-quality (Ho, Campbell-Barr, & Leeson, 2010; Tietze & Cryer, 2004). However, local culture also influences conceptions of ECD and ECCE and how quality is perceived in different national/subnational settings (Izu, 2006). This problematizes the use of wholesale policy and program borrowing, which is often seen in this field, due to the drive towards broadening global access to ECCE (Heo, Cheatham, Hemmeter, & Noh

2014; Oun, Ugaste, Tuul & Niglas, 2010), and it is possible that imported programs can be culturally at odds with the host culture (Fees, Hoover, & Zheng, 2014), which can lead to potential reductions in program quality. The issue of local applicability can even bring

35 into question the underlying conceptions of high-quality in the field of ECCE. The complex and often culturally rooted nature of ECCE is highlighted in a World Health

Organization (WHO) report ( 2005), where Maggi, Irwin, Siddiqi and Hertzman propose an answer to the problem of how to incorporate local culture into global designs for

ECCE by saying that, “early childhood development issues require a discussion at the global level to effectively apply knowledge-based principles and implementation strategies across cultures and contexts internationally to promote healthy child- development” (p. 3). It is the goal of this study to contribute to this global discussion on the nature of ECD and ECCE.

Overview of Literature Review

This literature review provides the theoretical basis for my comparative case- study into the lived-experiences (van Manen, 1990), habitus (Bourdieu, 1994), perceptions (Adler, 1955) and praxes (Chomsky, 2000) of ECCE educators in two ECCE centers, one in Lebanon and one in Denmark. The following research questions and sub- questions guided this study into the problem of how national/subnational context shapes

ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and ECCE praxes:

1. What are the professional lived-experiences and habitus of two Danish and two

Lebanese educators?

 How are these ECCE educators’ lived-experiences and habitus

similar to and different from each other?

2. What are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE and what are their

praxes?

 How do the educators’ habitus influence their perceptions?

 How are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE

similar to and different from each other?

 How do these perceptions influence individual praxis?

The research questions guided this literature review by providing four separate thematic areas, which guided four separate literature searches: (a) early childhood care and education, (b) international education, (c) educators’ lived-experiences and (d) educators’ perceptions. It should be noted that throughout this study I will refer to professionals working within the field of ECCE as educators and not as teachers, so as to distinguish their modes of praxis from those traditionally associated with teachers working in formal K-12 educational contexts. Additionally, I choose to distinguish between ECD, which in the context of this study relates to the physiological growth and development of children, and ECCE, which refers to the formalized modes of educational praxis carried out by trained professionals working in early-learning institutions. Other monikers are frequently used instead of ECCE, such as Early Learning and Early

Childhood Education and Care, but to avoid confusion only ECCE will be used in this study. The terms international and global are often used interchangeably in ECCE research. In this study, I use the term global to designate policies, programs and issues that concern the entire world and the term international when I am only referring to a number of countries or regions.

In the section called Theme 1, I examine the work of the influential ECD scholars

Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Additionally, I look at how their work influences current international and global ECCE research. This is followed by an examination of ECCE’s perceived low status, ECCE’s relationship to women’s role in the

37 workforce, the integration of care and education, the role of play in ECCE, and the relationship between ECCE and K-12 education. In Theme 2, the focus shifts to examine the role currently played by ECCE internationally and globally. UNESCO currently characterizes the earliest years of human development as being the most crucial of the entire life-cycle, investment in ECCE is seen as good economic policy for both post- industrial and emerging economies and the achievement of high-quality ECCE is viewed as vital in maximizing the economic benefits of ECCE programs internationally.

However, notions of high-quality ECCE are difficult to determine globally, as they are often rooted in local conceptions and requirements for child-development, and many countries are currently pushing back against the predominantly Western views of ECD and ECCE that dominate the field. Theme 2 explores the current debate on the nature of high-quality ECCE and examines some of the potential universal standards that are currently being used to achieve high-quality ECCE. Finally, this theme explores current international and global resistance to Western models of high-quality ECCE.

In Theme 3, I explore literature that examines the origins of lived-experiences in the philosophical tradition of phenomenology, with particular focus upon the works of the philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1807), Martin Heidegger (1927) and the phenomenological research theorist Max van Manen (1990). This is followed by a review of current research that explores the lived-experiences of teachers and ECCE educators. It seems that ECCE educators’ perceptions and actions are deeply embedded in their life-histories and that being an ECCE educator does not just relate to how you behave at work, but becomes an integral part of an individual’s identity. In Theme 4, I examine the perceptions of ECCE educators. For this study, a distinction is made

38 between the lived-experiences of ECCE educators and their perceptions. Although they are considered here to be closely linked, lived-experiences are seen as being more integral to the individual’s sense of personal identity, whereas educator’s perceptions

(although a product of the lived-experience) are rooted in the individual’s responses to experiences in their external environment. In this way educators’ perceptions are more closely connected to the context of their work environment and the profession of ECCE itself. This theme begins with an examination of seminal literature on the subject of perception, focusing on the work of philosopher Immanuel Kant and the psychoanalyst

Alfred Adler. This is followed by a review of current research that explores the role perceptions in the field of ECCE.

Following the completion of the literature review I present my theoretical and conceptual framework that drives this research study. I present my overarching epistemology, Critical Theory, with a brief exploration of the works of Michel Foucault, one of the seminal scholars in the field of Critical Theory. I focus particularly upon his use of discourse analysis that informs my approach to this research. Then, I introduce two key theoretical concepts that inform my conceptual framework for this study, Pierre

Bourdieu’s (1984, 1992) notions of habitus and field. These two theoretical concepts inform my theoretical constructs which serve as the foundation of my conceptual framework, which is presented at the end of this chapter.

Search Methodology

The model that guides this literature review is based upon the work of Arlene

Fink’s book Conducting Research Literature Reviews (2010). In it, she defines a research literature review as “a systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying,

39 evaluating and synthesizing the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners” (p.3). In this literature review, I have endeavored to be systematic, explicit and reproducible, by utilizing the following model

(see figure 2).

Figure 2. Model for Literature Review

Fink (2010) stipulates that for high-quality literature reviews to be systematic, explicit and reproducible, the reviewer must describe and qualify the decisions he has made. She recommends using a double screening approach when conducting a literature search, to “distinguish well-designed studies from poorly designed ones” (p. 59). She distinguishes between practical and methodological quality screens. Practical screens occur during the literature search itself, they set the criteria for the literature search, determining which articles to include, the key words used, types of study included (e.g., quantitative or qualitative), the time frame permissible for included studies and the choice of databases. Upon the completion of the literature search the researcher can proceed to apply a second, methodological quality screen to refine the selection of studies and thereby further ensure quality and relevancy. Types of methodological quality screens include a priori criteria, research design, sampling, data collection, interventions, data analysis, results and conclusions.

The initial literature search criteria for this review were generated from the research questions. Four broad themes were established a priori: ECCE, International

Education, Educators’ Lived-experiences and Educators’ Perceptions. Separate literature

40 searches were conducted for each of these four themes. Two databases were selected for this literature search: ERIC and Education Source. These two databases were chosen because they deal specifically with educational research and their search engines permit multi-level searches whereby more than one search term can be used in a hierarchical fashion to help increase the focus of a literature search.

Table 1

Methodical Literature Review

Research Theme Primary Search Secondary Practical Screen Methodological Total Number of Terms Search Terms Screen Publications Reviewed Early Childhood Early Childhood International and Published after Studies and Papers 23 Care and Care and Comparative 2000/Peer only; Key words: Education Education/Early Reviewed Comparative, Cross- (ECCE) Childhood Cultural, International Education and Early Childhood Education and Care/Early Childhood Education and Care, Early-Learning International International Early Childhood Published after Studies and Papers 21 Education Education Care and 2000/Peer Only; Education Reviewed International Education, Cross- Cultural Comparison, Cross-National Comparison or Multi- Cultural/Multiculturali sm Lived Lived Experiences Early Childhood Published after Studies and papers 10 Experiences of Education/Early 2000/Peer only; Teachers/Teachers Learning Reviewed Teacher/Educator, ’ Lived Lived Experience Experiences and/or Phenomenological study Teacher Teacher Early Childhood Published after Studies and papers 29 Perspectives Perceptions Education/Case- 2010/Peer only; Study Reviewed Early Childhood Care and Education/Early Childhood Education and Care/Early Learning

The first theme’s literature search consisted of three search terms: Early

Childhood Care and Education, with the two secondary search terms being International and Comparative. No works published before the year 2000 were included and only peer- reviewed journal publications were utilized, this practical screen was replicated for all the

41 searches except for the final search. 47 publications were discovered. A second literature search for the first theme was conducted where the main search term was Early

Childhood Education, with two secondary search terms being International and

Comparative. 270 publications were discovered. The second theme utilized International

Education as the primary search term and used Early Childhood Care and Education as the secondary search term, 140 publications were discovered. Four separate literature searches were conducted for the third theme. The primary search term for the first search was Lived-experiences of Teachers, with a second search term, Early Childhood

Education, 19 publications were discovered. The second search for this theme used the same primary search term as the initial search, with the secondary search term Early

Learning, only one publication was discovered. The third search used the primary search term Teachers’ Lived-experiences, with the secondary search term Early Childhood

Education, 9 publications were discovered. The final search for the third theme utilized the primary search term lived-experiences of teachers, with no secondary search term. 85 publications were discovered. For the fourth and final theme the first literature search used the primary search term Teacher Perceptions and the secondary search terms Early

Childhood Education and Case-Study, 32 publications were discovered. The second literature search used the key search term Teacher Perceptions, with the secondary search term as Early Childhood Education. Due to the number of publications discovered, only works published before the year 2010 were selected, this search discovered 171 publications.

Upon the completion of the literature search, a methodological quality screen was applied to each set of publications. Only research papers or research studies were

42 selected. For the first theme four key phrases were created a priori: comparative, cross- cultural, international and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECCE)/Early Childhood

Education and Care (ECEC)/Early Learning (EL). Summaries that did not include at least three of the four key phrases were discarded from this literature search, leaving 23 publications. The same process was carried out for the second theme, summaries that did not contain one of the key phrases ECCE/ECEC/ECE/EL, or the key terms International

Education, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-National Comparison or Multi-

Cultural/Multiculturalism were discarded, leaving 21 publications. For the third theme, the difficulty associated with finding studies and papers relating to the lived-experiences of ECCE educators meant that more inclusive criteria were used when selecting publications, with studies and papers relating to the lived-experiences of teachers in K-12 education also being included. Summaries that did not include mention of teacher/educator or lived experience and/or phenomenological study were discarded, leaving 10 publications. For the fourth theme, summaries that did not include the key phrases ECCE/ECEC/EL or the key words perception or conception were discarded, leaving 29 publications.

These publications were all read using the PDF reader Foxit reader on the iPad. In addition, key themes were recorded in a notebook, along with the name of the publication. Extra important themes were highlighted in this notebook. In this way a separate physical document was produced, in which key cross-cutting themes were recorded to facilitate their later use.

Theme 1: Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)

The field of ECCE is currently the subject of much attention and investment internationally/globally, partly due to research which shows that educational intervention in the earliest years of a child’s development can have long-lasting positive consequences for the individual (Schweinhart, Barnett, Belfield & Nore, 2005; Maggi, Irwin, Siddiqi, &

Hertzman, 2007). This next section will attempt to provide an overview of how the field of ECCE has developed through an examination of seminal literature in the field of ECD and its influence on current ECCE research. Additionally, this theme explores issues arising from the complexity of ECD and the roles that gender, status, play and care have in the field of ECCE.

Table 2

ECCE Literature Search

Author(s) Source/Publisher Title Description

EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION (ECCE) Hannikainen, M. (2010) Springer Science + Business 1 to 3-Year-Old Children in Day General picture of policy and Media Care Centres in Finland: an structure of ECCE in Finland Overview of Eight doctoral Dissertations Baudelot, O. Rayna, S. Mayer, International Journal of Early A Comparative Analysis of the Comparative analysis of S. Musatti, T. (2003) Years Education Function of Coordination of function of coordinating ECCE Early Childhood Education and in France and Italy Care in France and Italy Taylor, S. I. Ito, Y. Saito, M. Research in Comparative and Who Should Be Minding Our Comparative study of American Kaneda, T. (2009) International Education Children? A Cross-Cultural and Japanese teacher Study of American and Japanese understanding of notion that Pre-Service Teacher’s under 3’s best cared for in the Perceptions of Childcare for home Children under Age Three Paiva, M. G. G. Schneider, A. Current Issues in Comparative A New Look on Early Child Analysis of experimental Machado, M. L. S. Perinzzo, P. Education Care and Education (ECCE) as program carried out in four V. D. (2009) Joint Responsibility provinces in Brazil McMullen, M. Elicker, J. Wang, Early Childhood Research Comparing beliefs About Quantitative study comparing J. Erdiller, Z. Lee, S. Lin, C. Quarterly Appropriate Practice Among teachers self-reported Sun, P. (2005) Early Childhood Education and beliefs/practices related to Care Professionals From the National Association for the USA, China, Taiwan, Korea and education of young children Turkey (NAEYC) Freitas, L. B. I. Shelton T. L. The International Society for the Conceptions of US and Brazilian Examines how notions of care Tudge, J. R.H. (2008) Study of International Early Childhood Care and and education have changed Development Education: A Historical and over time in Brazil and the USA Comparative Analysis Fenech, M. Sweller, N. Harrison International Journal of early Identifying High-quality Centre- Comparison of data from Early (2006) Years Education Based Childcare Using Childhood Environment Rating

Quantitative Data-Sets: what Scale and Infant-Toddler Numbers Do and Don’t Tell Us Environment Rating Scale instruments Bennett, J. Neuman, M. J. Prospects, vol XXXIV, no. 4 Early Childhood, Major Review of international data to (2004) Challenges: review of early aid in the formulation of ECCE Childhood Education and Care policies Policies in OECD Countries Millea, V. Z. Journal Plus Education Family Environment, Early Study examining relationship Education and the Skills between parents status, early Acquired at the End of Primary education practices, period spent School by child in kindergarten and school performances in 4th grade

Samuelson, I. P. Sheridan, S. International Journal of Early Five Preschool Curricula- Compares ECCE curricular from Williams, P. (2006) Childhood Comparative Perspective 5 countries, examining similarities and differences

Early, D. M. Iruka, I. U. Ritchie, Early Childhood Research How do Pre-Kindergarteners Paper considers how children S. Barbarin, O. A, Winn, D. C. Quarterly Spend their Time? Gender, spend their time in state funded Crawford, G. M. Frome, P. M. Ethnicity and Income as pre-k programs in USA Clifford, R. M. Burchinal, M, Predictors of Experiences in Pre- Howes, C. Bryant, D. M. Pianta, Kindergarten Classrooms R. C. (2008)

Burger, K. (2010) Early Childhood Research How Does Early Childhood Review of key studies on the Quarterly Care and education Affect effects of pre-school programs Cognitive Development? An on cognitive development International Review of the Effects of Early Interventions for Children from different Social Backgrounds

Soudee, A. R. (2009) Current Issues in comparative Incorporating Indigenous Paper considers UNESCO’s Education Knowledge and Practice into policy that promotes ECCE with ECCE: A Comparison of culturally diverse populations in Programs in the Gambia, Gambia, Mali and Senegal Senegal and Mali

Cleveland, G. Colley, S. (2013) Springer Science + Business Integration of Child Care and Paper compares ECCE in Media education in Canada: A Canada with Sweden, New Comparison with Sweden, New Zealand, England and Wales Zealand, England and Wales

Montie, J. E. Xiang, Z. Early Childhood Research Preschool Experience in 10 Longitudinal, cross-national Schweinhart, L. J. (2006) Quarterly Countries: Cognitive and study of pre-primary care and Language Performance at Age 7 education designed to identify how process and structural characteristics of the settings children attended at 4 related to age-7 cognitive performance

Subramanian, M. (2015) International Journal of Rethinking Play: A postcolonial Ethnographic study, using Educational Development Feminist Critique of feminist postcolonial lens, to International Early Childhood study play in ECCE settings Education Policy

Smit, F. Driessen, G. Sleegers, Early Child Development and Scrutinizing the Balance: Paper focuses on the P. Teelken, C. (2008) Care Parental Care Versus pedagogical responsibilities of Educational Responsibilities in a parents and schools, as well as Changing Society the care provided by socializing agencies and local communities

Adamson, E. Brennan, D. (2013) Springer Science + Business Social Investment or Private Paper, using examples from Media Profit? Diverging Notions of England and Australia, questions ‘Investment’ in Early Childhood the compatibility of social Education and Care investment and private investment in ECCE

Schneider, A. Ramires, V. R. Current Issues in Comparative The Better Early Childhood Paper present the pioneering Paiva, M. G. G. Almeida L. Education development Program: An experience of the Programa (2009) Innovative Brazilian Public Primeira Infancia Mehlor (PIM) Policy which provides guidance on ECCE to families based on their specific cultural background

Pickering, L. E. Walsh, E. J. International Society for Using Videoconferencing Study explores trainer ECCE (2011) Technology in Education Technology to Enhance educators experience of using Classroom Observation videoconferencing for carrying Methodology for the Instruction out remote observations of of Preservice Early Childhood ECCE classrooms Professionals

Birbeck, D. Drummond, M. International Education Journal Very Young Children’s body 47 children, 5-6 years, (2006) Image: Bodies and Minds Under interviewed on their perceptions Construction of their own size and weight

Early Childhood Development Seminal thinkers: Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky

To better understand the current discourse on international/global ECCE it is important first to consider the important role played by Early Childhood Development

(ECD). Much of the current discourse around the nature of ECD has been defined by work carried out by Western scholars (Hamaidi, Homidi, & Reyes, 2012). Three seminal theorists who still influence the field of ECD and ECCE to this day are Erik Erikson

(1950, 1980), Jean Piaget (1945, 1954), and Lev Vygotsky (1962, 1978). The work of all these scholars was based upon the detailed observations of young children’s behavior

(Stern, 1984). Although the works of these figures vary, they all concur that the child develops through certain key stages, or critical periods on its path to maturity.

Despite the general agreement that ECD occurs in clearly identifiable stages, the theories of Erikson (1950, 1980), Piaget (1945, 1954) and Vygotsky (1962, 1978) require closer examination, as there is considerable disagreement between them regarding how and when these stages develop. An early proponent of the concept of developmental stages was the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1905), who developed a stage based explanation of ECD, focusing primarily upon what he termed the psycho-sexual nature of early development. It is this work that serves as the theoretical basis for Erikson’s (1950,

1980) seminal works on the issue. Freud (1905) focused strongly upon early childhood- sexuality, naming his model of ECD stages psycho-sexual stages. Erikson abandoned

Freud’s psycho-sexual stages and posited a model he called psycho-social stages. This model contended that there are eight distinct developmental stages during the course of the human life-cycle (1980): infancy (0-2 years), early-childhood (2-4 years), pre-school age (4-5 years), school age (5-12 years), adolescence (13-19), early adulthood (20-39

47 years), adulthood (40-64 years) and maturity (65-death). Inherent to each developmental stage is one archetypical conflict, which each individual must successfully negotiate in order to develop a healthy personality. For the first developmental stage, Erikson posited a conflict between the notions of basic trust versus basic mistrust. If a child is well nurtured by his primary caregivers then the child will develop a fundamental sense of trust towards the world, if the child is not well cared for then he will grow up being generally mistrustful towards his surroundings. This foundational theory is still used in current ECD and ECCE research (Oun, Ugaste, Tuul & Niglas, 2010).

The developmental psychologist Jean Piaget (1945, 1954, 1980) stipulated that early learning was best characterized as a form of individual adaption to the environment.

The infant moves from concrete experiences to more abstract forms of comprehension through the twin processes of assimilation and accommodation. New experiences, which are in accordance with previous experiences, are assimilated into pre-existing cognitive schemas. Experiences that contradict pre-established cognitive schemas are accommodated, whereby the entire cognitive apparatus is reconfigured to allow for the content of new comprehensions. This process is ongoing throughout childhood, and despite the individuated nature of this process, it gives rise to uniform patterns of child development that Piaget organizes into a hierarchy of a priori stages. The sensorimotor stage spans from birth to age 2; the preoperational stage from age 2 – 7; the concrete operational stage from age 7-11 and the formal operational stage that begins in adolescence and spans into adulthood. A key characteristic of these developmental stages is that they are sequential. A child will pass through each stage before reaching maturity in the final stage, not bypassing any of the stages. Another key characteristic of these

48 stages is that they each possess their own modes of cognition that are distinct from those seen at other stages. Piaget’s stages and the underlying mechanisms that give rise to them have not been universally embraced by scholars. Linguist Noam Chomsky (1980) challenged the idea that the twin processes of assimilation and accommodation could produce more powerful cognitions. Chomsky’s posited that more powerful cognitions must be part of the human genetic endowment, as this is the only way to account for the stability of developmental stages across the human species.

Lev Vygotsky (1962) shared many of Piaget’s (1945) theoretical positions, including his posited stages of human development. He did criticize Piaget’s work, particularly his vision of socialization of thought, which he claims Piaget saw “as a mechanical abolition of the characteristics of the child’s thought... All that is new in development comes from without, replacing the child’s own modes of thought” (p. 155).

Here Vygotsky critiques Piaget’s concept that all human development is naturally moving towards the achievement of rational thought. Vygotsky (1978) considered this position to be too narrow a conceptualization of ECD and placed emphasis upon the fact that ECD gives rise to multiple important cognitive domains.

In the field of ECCE Vygotsky (1978) is perhaps best known for his theory of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This theory posits that there is a difference between what a child can achieve without help and what the child can achieve with adult assistance, “children can imitate a variety of actions that go well beyond the limits of their own capabilities” (p.88). This position has heavily influenced ECCE and gives support to the notion that collective modes of ECCE praxis offer superior educational outcomes than if children remain at home with their families (McMullen et al., 2005;

Nicolson & Reifel, 2011). This position has been supported by the seminal Abecedarian

Project (Campbell, Remey, Pungello, Sparling & Miller-Johnson, 2002), in which 111 high-risk infants were randomly assigned to different treatment groups, with one control group. Children assigned to the preschool treatment group earned significantly higher scores on academic measures, achieved significantly more years in formal education, were more likely to attend college and showed a reduction in the overall number of teen pregnancies.

Seminal authors’ influence on current research.

Erik Erikson (1950, 1980), Jean Piaget (1945, 1954) and Lev Vygotsky (1962,

1978) still significantly influence the current field of ECCE research. Hamaidi, Hamidi and Reyes (2012) used Vygotsky’s ZPD in their theoretical framework when carrying out a comparative international quantitative study into the attitudes of 300 ECCE educators towards inclusive educational practices. These educators were working in ECCE centers in three countries: Jordan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States of America

(USA). The researchers concluded that while educators in the different contexts shared a positive attitude towards inclusive practices, in the classroom there was a gap between theory and practice, particularly in Jordan and UAE.

Oun et al. (2010) used the work of Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky as the core of their theoretical framework when they examined educators’ approaches to practice in traditional and step-by-step ECCE programs in Estonia. To collect their data, they used a questionnaire based upon International Step by Step Association teacher standards and national curriculum that focused upon five areas: (a) the learning environment, (b) cooperation with parents, (c) teaching strategies for meaningful learning, (d) planning and

50 assessment, (e) individual approach to the child. The results of the questionnaire were analyzed using independent sample t-tests with a significance level of p<0.05. The results of their study showed that teachers in the step-by-step program applied a child-centered approach significantly more frequently in their everyday work than teachers in traditional programs.

The complexity of ECD.

An important point to bear in mind when reading the works of scholars like

Erikson (1950), Piaget (1958) and Vygotsky (1968) is that they rigorously examined the phenomenon of ECD and developed complex and often contradictory explanations for what they observed (Hoffman, 2003; René van der Veer, 1996). The fact that ECD research rests primarily upon observations raises interesting ontological and epistemological issues for researchers in this field (Stern, 1984). When we speak of childhood, we are referring to something real in the world, but it should be remembered that conceptions of childhood have not always existed in their current form and in fact have shifted over the course of time (Cannella, 1997). The previous section demonstrates how even leading scholars, when examining the phenomenon of ECD, drew widely varying conclusions about its nature. Models for understanding ECD, such as Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation, do not refer to material phenomenon that can in any way be identified in the physical world. They are hypothesized concepts relating to internal states, rooted in observations of overt behavior. Although useful, because of their speculative nature such concepts can potentially also shift over time or be countered by alternative theories of the same phenomena. This issue is central to the understanding of

ECD and underlines the complexity of this highly theoretical field. The complex nature

51 of ECD seems to give rise to multiple valid interpretations, which in turn can potentially inspire a range of legitimate ECCE praxes (Fenech, Sweller, & Harrison, 2010; Millea,

2014; Penn, 2014; Soudee, 2009).

Gender, Status, Care and Play in ECCE

It is generally accepted in the fields of ECD and ECCE that the family unit is the most influential environment for young children (Bowlby, 1969; Izu, 2006; Freitas,

Shelton, & Tudge, 2008; Maggi, Irwin, Siddiqi & Hertzman, 2007) and, within the family unit, the mother plays a particularly central role in ensuring the wellbeing of the child in the first years of life (Stern, 1998). Michel Foucault (1990), in his book The History of

Sexuality; Volume 1, makes the case that the nuclear family, as a social unit, is in fact the recent creation of Western modernity, one that was brought about because of its utility to the industrial age. According to Foucault, traditionally the father would work in industry and the mother would stay at home and raise the next generation of workers.

Certainly a case can be made that the current rise in interest in ECCE programs world-wide is partially rooted in the fact that women are increasingly participating in the work-force and need to have their children taken care of while they are away from home

(Bennet & Neuman, 2004; Izumi-Taylor Lee & Franceschini, 2011; Thao & Boyd, 2014).

This gives rise to an interesting new dynamic between ECCE educators and parents, who often have differing expectations of their children and the ECCE programs themselves.

This was the focus of Pei-Wen et al. (2015) study. The authors examined differences in

ECCE educators’ and parental perceptions of professionalism in ECCE. The study used five-point Likert scale questionnaires, completed by both sample groups (educators and parents), the results of which were analyzed using an independent samples t-test with an

52 alpha value of 0.5, and semi-structured interviews that were recorded, transcribed and then thematically coded. The independent samples t-test was significant at p<0.05 showing a significant difference in comprehensions of the nature of ECCE praxis between the two groups. This finding was supported by themes emerging from the thematic coding of the interviews. The study concluded that parents often failed to comprehend the extent of ECCE educators’ professionalism. Additionally, parents often considered issues, such as understanding the needs of the child, the importance of social skills and professional development and the development of ethics, as being less important than ECCE educators.

One possible reason for a clash of perceptions between parents and ECCE educators is that formal education is often rooted in purposes and designs not directly linked to the wellbeing of the individual child, such as the need for social efficiency and the maintenance of tradition (Kliebard, 2004). Parents primarily act as arbitrators for their offspring, but the ECCE educator must balance a multitude of differing and sometimes contradictory demands coming both from the parents and the state (Pei-Wen et al, 2015).

What seems to be clear is that, despite the trend of women increasingly participating in the workforce, ECCE is still primarily viewed as work for women (Hannaway, Steyn, &

Hartell, 2014), even though the WHO state that “there is...a substantial evidence base establishing the significant impact men have on children’s lives…In fact, engaging with…men…is now firmly emphasized in many policy frameworks as a strategic requirement for all children’s services” (Irwin, Siddiqi & Hertzman, 2007, p. 38).

Certainly, the large majority of studies conducted for this literature review utilized primarily or exclusively women in their samples of ECCE educators (Hamaidi, Homidi,

& Reyes, 2012; Pardhan, 2012; Hegde & Cassidy 2009; Oun et al., 2010; Zinsser,

Zinsser, Shewark, Denham & Curby, 2014).

Perhaps it is the perception that ECCE is primarily the domain of women that has led ECCE to be viewed as a low status occupation (Hannaway, Steyn, & Hartell, 2014;

Pei-Wen et al., 2015). Historically it seems to be the case that K-12 education has received higher levels of public resources and political support than ECCE (Cleveland &

Colley, 2013). Hannaway, Steyn, and Hartell (2014) state that in present day South

Africa there is a scarcity of well qualified ECCE educators, but that it is hard to encourage particularly black South Africans to complete the necessary university level education to work in this field. They state that “teaching young children is regarded as the work of grandmothers and young girls rather than a professional pursuit worthy of university study, and it moreover receives little respect from students and their families”

(p. 391). This lack of regard for the profession of ECCE is linked to the idea that the profession is often poorly remunerated and this discourages students completing the training required as they do not feel that it is a financially viable career option.

One of the chief difficulties in achieving the same status, prestige and financial remuneration as K-12 teachers do in many countries, is due to the unique requirements of

ECCE (Cleveland & Colley, 2013). Whereas older children have reached a developmental level where teachers can focus primarily upon educational content, care plays a central role in ECCE praxis because children are yet to reach a level of developmental maturity where they can meet their own basic physiological needs

(Brostrom, 2014). Child psychologist John Bowlby (1988) posited that a child’s

54 experiences with caring adults in the earliest years of its life have profound implications for all future development. Bowlby stated that:

Human infants we can safely conclude, like infants of other species, are

preprogrammed to develop in a socially cooperative way; whether they do so or

not turns in high degree on how they are treated. (p. 10)

Bowlby states that to survive and flourish young children require caring and responsive adults who are capable of interpreting their signals and responding in a suitable manner.

Erikson (1950) concurred with this position, noting that a lack of a responsive care giver can lead “to acute infantile depression or to a mild but chronic state of mourning” (p. 80).

Erikson claimed that such a child may become predisposed to depression for the remainder of its life.

The need to balance different educational and developmental domains into a coherent and communicable mode of praxis is a key challenge for ECCE (Freitas,

Shelton, & Tudge, 2008). Cleveland and Colley (2013) advocated for the integration of child-services and ECCE programs to increase the amount and quality of resources available to young children and ensure that such services were universally accessible. A balance between education and care is one that has been struck in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland and Sweden (Bennet & Neuman, 2004). ECCE educators in these countries typically receive training in multiple domains so as to provide them with different areas of competence, thus creating a more flexible professional identity.

Bennet and Neuman state that “traditionally, unqualified staff, including crèche workers, have practically no possibility of changing sector and, in particular, of seeking more qualified and better-paid employment” (p. 431). With this flexibility in training,

Scandinavian pedagogues have a greater freedom to decide which domains they will work in, from ECCE, to care for the elderly, children with special needs, after school clubs for primary school children, or if they wish to pursue higher levels of formal education, which in turn can lead to higher-quality ECCE (Davis, 2012).

Other countries appear to struggle to find a balance between the competing requirements of care and education. Perold, Oswald, and Swart (2012) note that there is often an antipathy towards the idea of caring for children in the field of ECCE, because it is seen as being primarily a feminized occupation, even though “caring for children seems fundamental to teachers’ professional identity” (p. 119). They continue by highlighting that “while caring is generally seen as an integral part of teaching, what caring means is understood in many different ways” (p. 119). Kim, Kim, and Maslak

(2005) conducted research that examined how early childhood teachers in Korea understood DAP in order to “obtain insights for developing “educare”, an integrated system for the education and care of young children in Korea” (p. 49). They state that

DAP is accepted in South Korea as a legitimate model for ECCE by academics and policy makers, but is not always well understood by practitioners, particularly those who work with children under the age of three. ECCE educators working with children under the age of three in South Korea are overseen by the Ministry of Welfare and ECCE at this age focuses primarily upon the care for the child. Children above the age of 3 are managed by the Ministry of Education and ECCE at this age focuses primarily upon academic achievement. The authors state that historically these two groups have struggled to find a consensus with regards to policy decisions for the children under their collective charge.

The authors discovered that ECCE educators had a less positive response to DAP beliefs than kindergarten teachers. They concluded that this outcome was, in all likelihood, due to the fact that “child care teachers in Korea usually have less teaching experience, lower education levels and higher turnover rates” (p. 55). Another possible interpretation is that DAP fails to recognize the value of care in ECCE, uses reductionist interpretations of established ECD theories and accentuates individual academic achievement at the expense of other learning/developmental domains (McMullen et al.,

2005). It seems clear though that care has an uneasy position in modern ECCE, it is viewed as a natural and central component of education (Weng & Lin, 2013); still, many

ECCE programs struggle to integrate care with the more formal and academic aspects of education.

Much like care, play is an accepted but oft poorly understood part of ECCE

(Hegde & Cassidy, 2009). The phenomenon of child’s play has been studied extensively in the field of ECD. A seminal figure in the study of play was Jean Piaget (1945), who created a comprehensive model of child’s play. Piaget considered play to begin with imitation and imitation allows the child to assimilate and eventually replicate modes of behavior demonstrated by others. Despite the fact that imitation always involves an element of experience, Piaget considered early modes of play to be automatic and intrinsic to early development. For Piaget, play was a forum in which new capabilities and cognitive capacities could be developed. Erikson (1950) concurred with Piaget’s

(1945) notion that play and learning are intrinsically linked at the earliest ages of the child’s life, calling play “the royal road to the understanding of the infantile ego’s efforts at synthesis” (p. 209). Due to his psychoanalytic background, Erikson took a different

57 view of play than Piaget, seeing play as the function of the ego attempting to synchronize and synthesize the bodily and social processes with the self. Erikson makes the case that play exists in all cultures and that it is only the forms of play that change, based upon which materials and toys are available to the child.

It would seem that there are sufficient theoretical grounds for ECCE educators to take play as a serious endeavor and have it as a central pillar of ECCE praxis. However, there has historically been resistance to prioritizing play in ECCE programs (Hegde &

Cassidy, 2009; Subramanian, 2014). According to Hegde and Cassidy, a chief obstacle to including play in ECCE is that parents often view play as a frivolous waste of time and push for the prioritization of more academically orientated approaches to ECCE.

According to the child psychologist Alison Gopnik (2009) this is possibly rooted in the adult distinction between useful and frivolous activities, “from the adult perspective, the fictional worlds [of children] are a luxury” and luxury is something that there is little time for in modern education programs, with their requirements of efficiency, assessment and accountability (Jackson, 2015).

Subramanian (2014) concurs with this perspective and adds that parental reluctance is possibly rooted in the fact that “play… [has] been constructed as children’s primary method of rebellion against adult surveillance and control” (p. 162). What seems to be troubling about play, particularly for concerned parents and government officials, is that it resists standardization and responds poorly to goal setting. Subramanian carried out a thirteen-month ethnographic field study of ECCE centers in three southern Indian states. She utilized participant observations, semi-structured interviews with staff and document analysis and triangulated the data from these three sources. Using a

58 feminist/postcolonial lens she concluded that “the data in this study also disputes the notion that play is automatically improved through evaluation and surveillance” (p. 167), instead, she concludes that practitioners should leave children be and allow play to flourish on their own terms in order to foster child autonomy and leadership skills among peers.

Perhaps one of the primary misconceptions of ECCE is that that ECCE is a frivolous occupation (Millea, 2014), not worthy of the same support or remuneration as

K-12 education (Subramanian, 2014). Research seems to discount this notion (Siddiqi,

Irwin, & Hertzman, 2007), but there do seem to be deeply entrenched attitudes that

ECCE is women’s work (Hannaway, Steyn, & Hartell, 2014). In order to address this misconception, research is required that shines a light upon the complex, important and intersectional nature of ECCE.

ECCE and K-12 Education

ECCE programs have shown a range of beneficial long-term outcomes, dependent on national/subnational context (Maggi et al., 2005). One of the primary benefits of

ECCE is children who participate in ECCE programs are more successful at the later stages of their formal education (Schweinhart et al., 2005; Freitas, Shelton, & Tudge,

2008; Schneider, Ramires, Paiva & Almeida, 2009). Additionally, for children who live in extreme poverty ECCE programs have actually been shown to improve their chances of survival past the fifth year of life. The flexibility of ECCE, its ability to adapt to the requirements of a specific context, allows ECCE programs to be meaningfully utilized under a broad range of conditions (Siddiqi, Irwin, & Hertzman, 2007). This flexibility does mean that fundamentally differing conceptions of ECCE exist in different countries

(Clark-Stewart, Lee, Allhusen, Kim & Mcdowel, 2006; Penn, 2014). Some countries such as France see ECCE as an integral part of formal education (Smit, Driessen,

Sleegers & Teelken, 2008), whereas other countries like the USA see ECCE more as a form of intervention that can help to mitigate the negative impact of low socio-economic status (SES), as seen in the seminal research study, High/Scope Perry Preschool Study

(Schweinhart et al., 2005). Whether ECCE is viewed as an integral part of the education system or as a form of intervention for at risk children, what seems to be important is how ECCE programs should be integrated with K-12 schooling. A key problem in this regard is the rather singular nature of ECCE praxis, which is not always seen as being compatible with the requirements of academic schooling (Kim, Kim & Maslak, 2005).

This matter is further complicated by the fact that different countries employ different models of K-12, with distinct educational ideologies (Rotberg, 2010), making a singular approach to ECCE seem untenable.

However, there is evidence that differing approaches to ECCE can give rise to comparable educational outcomes, when children transition from ECCE to formal schooling. This was the conclusion of Tazouti, Viriot-Goedel, Matter, Geiger-Jaillet,

Carol and Deviterne (2009). Their study highlights that the OECD, in 2006, distinguished two dominant approaches to ECCE widely used in European countries, namely the pre- primary and social pedagogy traditions. The pre-primary tradition favors an educational approach to ECCE based upon academic learning through “structured and progressive teaching situations” (p. 200). The central goal of the pre-primary education is to prepare children for the academic rigors that await them when they transition to primary school.

The social pedagogy tradition is far less interested in academic achievement and

60 preparation for primary school and instead concentrates on the all-round development of the child, focusing heavily on issues such as social interaction, exploration and artistic endeavor. The research team selected France as an example of the preprimary approach and Germany as an example of the social pedagogy tradition. A total of 552 children were used in the sample for this study, 299 children from French nursery schools and 253 children from German kindergartens.

Children’s performances were measured in a total of three different fields: arithmetic, reading-writing and transversal learning. Each academic field contained three sub-categories. Arithmetic contained the sub-categories: spatial organization, counting and rhythms. Reading-writing contained the sub-categories: visual discrimination, auditory discrimination and sound-spelling indicators. Transversal learning contained the sub-categories: handwriting, visual memory and auditory memory. The results were surprising in that the tests did not reveal any significant differences between the French and German children, despite the fact that French children had experience with academic learning and summative assessments.

This research raises some interesting issues for ECCE. Learning in the early years is perhaps less characterized by the kind of formal knowledge acquisition and retention than is seen at the primary level. Instead, it is possible that many of the more fundamental aspects of early learning, such as language acquisition, arise on the basis of a biological predisposition that exists prior to any experience (Chomsky, 1988). Certainly, this notion could provide an explanation for why two such distinct approaches to ECCE could give rise to equivalent educational outcomes. Perhaps it can be concluded that the young child’s capacity for learning is more robust than is often acknowledged and can thrive

61 provided the child’s basic nutritional and health needs are met and a suitably caring and stimulating environment is provided (Irwin, Siddiqi & Hertzman, 2007). If this is the case then there are many potential educational strategies and curricula that could be utilized to achieve the benefits of ECCE, and programs could be tailored to meet the specific educational requirements of different nations and cultures.

ECCE is a complex field, rooted in the complex and multi-facetted field of ECD

(McMullen et al., 2005; Yang, 2006). This complexity means that there currently exist numerous interpretations of the phenomenon of ECD, with distinct modes of ECCE praxis arising from many of theoretical/ideological positions (Millea, 2014). What can be said with reasonable assurance is that some form of high-quality ECCE appears to be highly beneficial for the child (Bennet & Neuman, 2004; Maggi et al., 2005; Schweinhart et al., 2005; Siddiqi, Irwin, & Hertzman, 2007), and given its seeming flexibility, one could expect that globally we would see initiatives to create context specific models of

ECCE, tailored to suit the particular requirements of each subnational/national context.

That this is currently not the case will be seen as we examine ECCE from international and global perspectives.

Theme 2: International and Global ECCE

ECD is a human universal, existing at all times in all cultures (Erikson, 1950), wherever human civilizations have flourished human beings have developed child- rearing practices that allow the child to survive and thrive, by meeting the child’s basic survival needs and communicating the traditions, technologies and expectations of the social group (Bowlby, 1969; Durkheim, 1912; Erikson, 1950; Freud, 1913). However, many of the current theories and practices that dominate the field of ECCE are drawn

62 from Western theories about ECD and ECCE, often at the expense of locally derived knowledge (Hall, 2008; Izu, 2006; Kim, Kim, & Maslak, 2005; McMullen et al., 2005).

There is little question that comprehensive models for both ECD and ECCE have been developed in the West and perhaps the current global preeminence of these models can partly be attributed to their efficacy (Miyahara & Meyers, 2008). However, there are researchers in this field who attribute the dominance of Western models for ECD and

ECCE to cultural imperialism (Burton, 2012, Hedge & Cassidy, 2009; Lewis et al.,

2006). In this coming section I explore the phenomenon of ECCE in an international and global context, with particular attention being paid to the difficulties involved in determining universal notions of high-quality in ECCE when working internationally or globally, and the resistance towards Western models of ECCE that can currently be found.

Table 3

International and Global Education Literature Search

Author(s) Source/Publisher Title Description INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION Baudelot, O. Rayna, S. Mayer, S. International Journal of Early A Comparative of the Function Study provides a comparative Musatti, T. (2003) Years Education of Coordination of Early analysis of the function of childhood Education and Care in coordinating ECCE services in France and Italy Italy and France Jiaxiong, Z. Nianli, Z. (2005) International Journal of Early A Survey of Current Shanghai Paper reports on the findings of a Years Education Early Childhood Education survey conducted in relation to Through Kindergarten Directors’ current Shanghai ECCE via a Self-Assessment self-assessment tool Davis, E. et al. (2012) Australian Journal of Early An International Perspective on Paper compares ECCE in Childhood regulated Family Day Care Australia, Canada, England, Systems Wales, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden and USA Nagayama, M. Gilliard, J. L. Early Childhood Education An Investigation of Japanese and Staff interviews and classroom Journal American Early Care and observations based upon a priori Education observation criteria and open- ended questions at multiple ECCE sites in Japan Burton, L. J. (2012) Current Issues in Comparative Building on Living Traditions: Ethnographic study explores how Education Early Childhood Education and the kindergarten is situated at the Culture in Solomon Islands core of a cultural revolution in Solomon Islands Aunio, P. Aubrey, C. Godfrey, R. International Journal of Early Children’s Early Numeracy in Research investigates the Pan, Y. Liu, Y. (2008) Years Education England, Finland and People’s similarities and differences

Republic of China between countries in young children’s early numeracy skills related to age, culture and gender Tobin, J. (2014) Current Issues in Comparative Comparative, Diachronic, Utilizing “video cued multi-vocal Education Ethnographic research on ethnography” to interview ECCE Education teachers and program directors Tietze, W. Cryer, D. (2004) International Journal of Early Comparisons of Observed Observed process quality in Years Education Process Quality in German and infant/toddler classrooms was American Infant/Toddler compared in Germany (n = Programs 75)`and the USA (n = 219) Maruyama, H. et al. (2015) Early education and Cultural differences in Conflict Study examines difference in the Development Management Strategies of development of conflict Children and its Development: management strategies focusing Comparing 3- and 5-Year-Olds on 3- and 5-year-olds, through a Across China, Japan and Korea comparison of 3 neighbouring Asian cultures Miyahara, J. Meyers, C. (2008) International Journal of Early Early Learning and development Paper analyses how countries in Childhood Standards in East Asia and the UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Pacific: Experiences from Eight Region (EAPR) have engaged in Countries Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) process Hunzai, Z. (2007) International Journal of Early Early Years Education in Paper outlines the programme of Years Education Pakistan: Trends, Issues and provision of ECCE which is Strategies urgently needed to support the development of children, 0-8 years, in Pakistan Hall, B. (2008) The International Educational Globalization of English Paper accounts for an Journal: Comparative Language Programs for Young investigation of two second Perspectives Children in Vietnam language teaching methodologies (direct and indirect) applicable for young children in Vietnam Jackson, J. (2015) Australian Education Research Embracing Multiple Ways of Paper reviews a new assessment Knowing in Regulatory and rating process for Australian Assessments of Quality in ECCE services Australian Early Childhood Education and Care Harper, S. N. Pelletier, J. (2010) International Journal of Early Parents Involvement in Early Study evaluates parent’s Years Education Childhood: a Comparison of communication, involvement and English Language Learners and knowledge of their kindergarten English First Language Families age children’s abilities in reading and mathematics among parents who spoke English as a first language and those who are English language learners Aaalsvoort, G. Prakke, B. Konig, International Journal of Early Preschool Teachers’ and Study compares the attitudes of A. Goorhuis, S. (2010) Years Education Students’ Attitudes Towards preschool teachers and students Playful Preschool Activities: A between the Netherlands and Cross-Cultural Comparison Germany towards typical play between Germany and the activities in preschool Netherlands Izu, R. M. (2006) Review of Education Quality and Equity in Early Study examines educational Childhood Care in Peru policy documents and programs on early childhood development and education in Peru Ho, D. Campbell-Barr, V. International Journal of Early Quality Improvement in Early Paper develops framework for Leeson, C. (2010) Years Education Years Settings in Hong Kong and comparative studies by England addressing the similarities and differences in quality improvement in England and Hong Kong Villlalon, M. Suzuki, E. Herrera, International Journal of Early Quality of Chilean Early Study assesses the quality of M. O. Mathiesen, M. E. (2002) Years Education Childhood Education from an different types of Chilean ECCE International Perspective programs compared to international standards

Thao, D. P. Boyd, W. A. (2014) International Journal of early Renovating Early Childhood Study explores how changing Years Education Education Pedagogy: a case societal expectations and the Study changing educational philosophies and resultant pedagogy have impacted in the beliefs and practices of early childhood teachers in Vietnam Brown, P. U. Castle, K. Rogers, Journal of Early Childhood The nature of Primary Teaching: Qualitative study examines lived K. M. Feuerhelm, Chimblo, S. Teacher Education body, time, Space, and experiences of a primary teacher Relationships in order to illuminate the nature of primary teaching in the USA

Kim, J. Kim, S. Maslak, .M. A. Journal of Research in Toward an Integrative “Educare” Study investigates how ECCE (2005) Childhood Education System: an Investigation of educators in Korea understand teachers’ Understanding and DAP and follow DAP’s Uses of Developmentally instructional guidelines Appropriate Practices for Young Children in Korea

High-Quality ECCE

As previously stated, ECCE is not only beneficial for the developmental and educational trajectories of young children (Hunzai, 2007), but is also a sound investment for national governments to make. Irwin, Siddiqi, and Hertzman (2007) posited that:

Economists now argue on the basis of the available evidence that investment in

early childhood is the most powerful investment a country can make, with returns

over the lifecycle many times the size of the original investment. (p. 7)

This position is supported by a 2001 UNICEF report4, which stated that ECCE programs:

Can reduce the need for public welfare expenditures later and cut down on the

social and financial costs associated with grade repetition, juvenile delinquency

and drug use. For every $1invested in the physical and cognitive development of

babies and toddlers, there is a return of $7 return mainly from cost savings in the

future. (p.10)

4 https://www.unicef.org/dprk/ecd.pdf 65

Therefore, both low and high-income countries around the world are investing resources in ECCE programs (Burton, 2012; Hall, 2008; Hunzai, 2007; Izu, 2006; Jiaxiong &

Nianli, 2005; Soudee, 2009).

There seems to be a broad consensus that ECCE programs need to be of high- quality if they are to have the aforementioned desired effects (Bennett & Neuman; 2004;

Ho, Campbell-Barr & Leeson, 2010; Lenn & Hayden, 2009). There have been many different attempts to establish the nature of high-quality in the field of ECCE. Horvai

(2010) makes the case for a child-centered pedagogy, stating that this approach, compared to a teacher-centered approach, is capable of responding to the values, individual learning needs and cultural backgrounds of children from diverse backgrounds. In addition, she states that her research supports such a model of ECCE, due to the fact that “the child-centered approach embraces cognitive development as well as social, cultural and emotional growth . . . whole-child development is a fundamental principle of this approach” (p. 400). Others share this positive view of child-centered

ECCE, Rothbaum, Nagoka, and Ponte (2006) assert that ECCE educators’ sensitivity to the specific and individuated needs of the child is of primary importance in the attainment of high-quality ECCE. Brostrom (2014) stipulate that high quality, child-centered ECCE should attempt to nurture, guide, lead, teach and scaffold children to help them achieve their potential, while at the same time fostering individual autonomy so that they can solve their own problems and make informed choices based upon their experiences.

However, the utilization of a child-centered pedagogy is not the only way to ensure high-quality ECCE (Bennet & Neuma, 2004; Davis, Freeman, Doherty, Karlsson,

Everiss, Couch & Hinke-Rahnau, 2012; Ho, Barr, & Leeson 2010; Paiva et al., 2009;

Villalon, Villalon, Suzuki, Herrera & Mathiesen, 2002). Davis et al. (2012) make the case that ECCE educators with a higher level of general education typically provide higher levels of program quality compared to those with lower levels of general education. This is particularly true if ECCE educators have training in fields relating to ECCE, as they are

“more sensitive with children and/or obtain higher ratings on measures of global quality”

(p. 128). This position is shared by Garvis and Pendergast (2015) who take the stance that

“a theoretically rich understanding of teaching and learning is important for ensuring quality in early childhood education” (p. 104) and echo Davis et al. by saying that there is a better chance of ensuring ECCE program quality if educators have higher levels of formal education. Having adequate material resources and suitable, ECCE friendly, facilities are also seen as being important factors in the attainment of high-quality ECCE

(Paiva, Schneider, Machado, Perinzzo & Duarte, 2009), as are low child to teacher ratios

(Davis, et al., 2012). Ho, Campbell-Barr, and Leeson (2010) define quality in-terms of a marriage between universally applicable indictors and subjective, value-based and culture bound comprehensions.

Bennett and Neuman (2004) give a list of eight goals which they deem high- quality ECCE should meet regardless of context:

1. A systematic approach to the formulation and implantation of policies.

2. A strong, equal-to-equal partnership, with the education system.

3. A universal approach to access, with particular attention paid to children with special needs.

4. Substantial public investment in services and infrastructure

5. A participative approach to improvement of quality and quality assurance.

6. Appropriate training and work conditions for the personnel responsible for the

range of services proposed.

7. Special stress placed on assessment, monitoring and collection of data.

8. A reference framework and a long-term research assessment program.

Heo, Cheatham, Hemmeter, & Noh (2014) make the case that familiarity with a cross-section of socio-emotional teaching strategies also helps to ensure high-quality

ECCE. They state that the use of socio-emotional teaching strategies is necessary in

South-Korea because recent studies have reported an increasing number of young children in ECCE centers who exhibit behavioral problems, particularly aggressive behavior and shyness. They claim that families are increasingly seeking medical support in order to reduce episodes of behavioral problems from their offspring. They posit that high-quality ECCE, with a focus upon behavioral intervention strategies, could help diminish the scope of this problem. They characterize effective behavioral strategies as utilizing “multi-tiered interventions, which includes the use of preventative and proactive practices” (p. 50). From the viewpoint of Heo et al., high-quality ECCE praxis is defined by the utilization of both chastising strategies, where the educator makes the child aware of negative behavior and perhaps utilizing punitive measures such putting a child on time-out, while simultaneously positively reinforcing acceptable modes of conduct, through the use of praise and other forms of encouragement. These examples go some way towards demonstrating the broad range of conceptions regarding high-quality ECCE currently in existence.

Finding a consensus on what constitutes high-quality ECCE is not without difficulties and there is some disagreement upon this issue, particularly in

68 international/comparative contexts (Fees, Hoover, & Zheng, 2014; Hegde & Cassidy,

2009; Izumi-Taylor, Lee, & Franceshchini, 2011; McMullen et al., 2010). The disagreements seem to stem from the same fundamental issues that we saw in the field of

ECD. ECCE notions of high-quality are highly theoretical in nature, are not always directly linked to specific measurable and quantifiable phenomena, and are influenced by complex historical discourses within their given host countries (Brostrom, 2014; Gichuru,

Riley, Robertson & Park, 2015; Hoffman, 2003; Izumi-Taylor, Lee, & Franceshchini,

2011; McMullen et al., 2005; ).

Gichuru et al. (2015) make the case that all children bring with them into the classroom a broad array of cultural, linguistic and social backgrounds. This is regardless of whether we are looking at multi-cultural ECCE classrooms in the USA, or ECCE programs in Japan or South-Africa. What is needed from their perspective is a culturally sensitive ECCE program. For Gichuru et al. this involves the ECCE educator learning about the family and community background of each child in their care. In addition, they state that “when teachers incorporate knowledge of children’s family and community cultures into the classroom, they can create a bridge between the children’s home and school” (p. 46). This however requires that ECCE educators have effective communication skills and the ability to establish and maintain relationships, not only with the children themselves, but also with their families. This seems to point to the fact that

ECCE, particularly in multi-cultural settings, is a highly dynamic field that requires practitioners to act autonomously and create unique modes of ECCE praxis contingent upon the specific needs of a given classroom. This also seems to place specific requirements on the types of ECCE curricula that should be implemented within such

69 culturally diverse contexts. Curricula should give the ECCE instructor a conceptual/theoretical basis upon which to build high-quality praxis, but it should be flexible enough to allow for variations that arise from the individual educator’s response to a given context. The need for flexibility in the context of the ECCE classroom further complicates the creation of universal standards for high-quality ECCE (Hall, 2008).

Paiva et al. (2009) support the vision of ECCE as an individuated enterprise, pointing out that successful high-quality ECCE demands a high-level of technical knowledge on the part of the practitioner, but also a skillful knowledge of what it entails for a child to be happy and healthy and to develop positively within the specific context of their local/national communities. This demand for local applicability seems to make the desire for universal standards of ECCE difficult to realize because it is not clear where such unifying standards should come from and upon what theoretical concepts they should be based (Miyahara & Meyers, 2008).

It seems that the quest for quality improvement in the field of ECCE is high on the political agenda of many countries (Tietze & Cryer, 2004). A common approach to dealing with the issue of high-quality ECCE politically is to look abroad for promising programs and import them wholesale (Burton, 2012; Hall, 2008; Jiaxiong & Nianli,

2004). Ho et al. (2010) state that the uncritical transfer of policies and programs in this manner is problematic, due to the issue of compatibility. According to the authors what is considered to be high-quality ECCE praxis within one national context may not necessarily have the same outcomes when relocated to another context. To address this issue the authors recommend the creation of a context-relevant knowledge-base for education policy, while simultaneously dealing with the complexity of ECCE by creating

70 standardized measures that consider both the specific characteristics of a given ECCE setting and the developmental/educational outcomes to which they contribute.

The goals for ECCE, set within a given national context, are the primary criteria for determining whether a given approach to ECCE is of high-quality (Tietze & Cryer,

2004; Burton, 2012; Ho et al., 2010). Izu (2006) cited that in Peru the primary criteria for judging whether ECCE programs are effective centers upon their ability to minimize the impact of poverty upon ECD. Poverty and health are such critical issues for children born in Peru that one of the primary aims of Peruvian ECCE is to provide nutrition and adequate health practices to children. These two criteria are understood to be foundational for the child’s development and learning and without these criteria being met satisfactorily it is difficult to ensure that high-quality learning and development can take place.

With regards to the issue of quality in ECCE, Izu (2006) acknowledged that:

Quality…remains ambiguous… since it is not sufficient simply to import this

from quantitative logic…it is necessary to know not only the percentage of

children that have some type of malnutrition, but also who they are and how

they…survive. (p. 198)

It seems clear that context specific variations can be so great that it becomes possible to speak of high-quality ECCE practices only in the most general way. Clearly any unifying notions of what constitutes high-quality ECCE must be flexible enough so that they can be beneficially applied to, for example, both Danish and Lebanese ECCE programs. If they fail to achieve this then there is a danger that notions of high-quality merely become reductionist standards, rooted in context specific norms and values that are artificial and

71 divisive. True conceptions of high-quality should be able to be applied beneficially in all contexts. If this criterion is not met then a specific model for what constitutes high- quality should be rejected.

Resistance to Western models of high-quality ECCE

The use of reductionist standards, rooted in context specific norms and values, as the basis for notions of high-quality ECCE, would appear to be commonplace (Burton,

2012; Hall, 2009; Hegde & Cassidy, 2009; McMulleen et al., 2005; Steyn, Harris, &

Hartell, 2014; Subramanian, 2015). Many of the standards for ECCE are transmitted through such international agencies as the WHO (Siddiqi, Irwin, & Hertzman, 2007), the

World Bank (Sayre, Devercelli, & Neuman, 2015) and UNICEF (Rao & Pearson, 2007), in an endeavor to aid low-income countries gain the benefits of ECCE in their countries.

However, the focus upon a Western interpretation of ECD and high-quality ECCE is meeting with resistance in some non-Western, low income countries (Burton, 2012).

Burton (2012) makes the case that education in the postcolonial South Pacific is still permeated with Western values, attitudes and practices. Burton states that many cultural beliefs about the nature of childhood and children’s development have not been examined by ECCE scholars and this is what has led to the propagation of universal notions of ECD, leading to an institutional universalism that does not translate well to non-Western settings. Burton posits that this has led many international and global ECCE programs to resemble Western-based models that are transmitted in an uncritical fashion to dissimilar contexts and cultures. She states that “these Western-dominant EC[C]E practices prevent recognition of, and efforts to reinvent, more culturally-relevant, locally sustainable programs in the majority of the world” (p. 157). This is a fairly damning

72 condemnation of what is broadly accepted practice, the transference of educational programs from Western/high-income countries to low and mid-income countries.

It is not only low-income countries that find their education systems permeated with Western-based models, values and practices (Ho et al., 2010; Kim, Kim, & Maslak,

2005). According to Weng and Len (2013), Chinese educational reforms tend to stem from the American educational system and imported ECCE programs tend to emphasize student-centered pedagogies, standardized curricula and continual assessment. In China, this has led to tension between the individualism of the American curriculum and the collectivism stressed in Confucian teachings, which still have a powerful influence in present day China. This position is reiterated in McMullen and colleagues’ (2005) study, where they posited that “traditional teaching based on Confucian traditions and socialist ideas have come into conflict with Western ideas about DAP and the goals of individual creativity, autonomy, and critical thinking” (p. 461). In addition, Chinese ECCE educators do not concur with some of the indicators of high-quality ECCE often used in the West, such as low child-teacher ratios. For example, in China, large classrooms, with

20-40 children, are the norm and this fact causes tensions between the realities of ECCE practice in China and the imported standards.

The result of this tension between Western models of ECCE and local conceptions of ECD is that ECCE educators do not fully embrace the programs, which negatively affects their praxis (Hegde & Cassidy, 2009; Kim, Young-Kim, & Maslack,

2005; Jiaxiong & Nianli, 2005; McMullen et al., 2005;).

McMullen et al. studied ECCE educator’s self-reported beliefs and practices related to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

73 program of Developmentally Appropriate Practice ( DAP). The study was carried out on

ECCE educators from the USA (412) from China (244), from Korea (574), from Taiwan

(222), and from Turkey (214). McMullen et al. state that:

DAP is widely endorsed by early childhood education and care professionals in

the USA and is assumed to have far reaching impact on curricular beliefs and

practices throughout the world. (p. 451)

The Teachers Beliefs Scale was used and mean scores of the different groups were compared using Pearson Correlations and one-way ANOVA. Self-reported beliefs associated with DAP were found to be positively related to the self-reported frequency of engagement in DAP style ECCE activities in all five countries, with a strong relationship found for USA participants, weak for Chinese and moderate for the other three countries.

McMullen et al. concluded that Chinese resistance to DAP was rooted in the fact that

China has, until relatively recently, been closed off to Western influence and so Chinese

ECCE educators were not inculcated with the underlying values that are noticeable in

DAP.

Self-reporting was also the method utilized by Jiaxiong and Nianli (2005). They reported on the findings of a survey conducted in relation to the Western styled ECCE program utilized in Shanghai. ECCE institutional directors (all female) from 10 ECCE centers were randomly selected for each of the 12 districts in Shanghai. An English language self-assessment tool was translated into Chinese and distributed to the 120 participants; the return rate was 100%. They discovered some significant differences between what staff believed about ECCE and what they actually did in practice, although they concluded that, in general, the “beliefs of care and education staff in Shanghai are

74 generally the same as those in more advanced countries” (p. 124). The writers attributed the discrepancies to the fact that ECCE educators did not fully comprehend the processes underlying the model and the proposed solution was to invest greater resources into the domains which were perceived to be inadequate. Another potential interpretation could be that ECCE educators find it difficult to balance the requirements of the externally mandated view of ECCE and their own, internal, culturally rooted perceptions of ECCE.

The post-colonial landscape, which Burton (2012) draws attention to, offers a potential explanation for the fact that knowledge and practices relating to ECD and

ECCE seem to flow from Western countries to the rest of the world (Subramanian, 2015), with few significant counter-flows. It seems to be problematic to insist upon the existence of axiomatic and universal standards for ECD and ECCE, bearing in mind how poorly we still understand the processes underpinning ECD (Chomsky, 1985). There seems to be a broad acceptance of the existence of universal conceptions of childhood (Burton, 2012;

Tietze & Cryer, 2004), even though in the seminal literature there is no true consensus about its actual nature (Piaget, 1945; Erikson, 1950; Vygotsky, 1978; Chomsky, 1980,

1988). What is particularly interesting is how ideas of universalism in ECCE seem to resist serious analysis in the West, despite ample criticisms of such an approach stemming from non-Western societies (Burton, 2012; McMullen, et al., 2005;

Subramanian, 2015).

What then should the future of international and global ECCE look like then?

Certainly, there seems to be little justification in discarding the work of Western scholars in the fields of ECD and ECCE, as they can still serve as a useful basis for research and debate in international contexts (Hamaidi, Homidi, & Reyes, 2012). Instead, it seems to

75 be important that scholars and researchers are critical of the seminal works of Erikson

(1950, 1980), Piaget (1945, 1954), and Vygotsky (1962, 1978), and do not view their contents as axiomatic truths, but rather as the work of researchers rooted in the time and place where they were produced, which can be criticized in the same way as all other academic research (Kuhn, 1962; Burton, 2012). Such an approach would allow ECCE scholars to adopt new and different theoretical perspectives, which in turn could invigorate the fields of ECD and ECCE.

An interesting development that can be seen in the field of international ECCE is the move towards hybrid philosophies of ECCE (Fees, Hoover, & Zheng, 2014;

Rothbaum, Nagaoka, & Ponte, 2006;). Fees, Hoover, and Zheng (2014) give an example of hybrid ECCE philosophies. They state that in China a happy medium between traditional Confucian values, such as close relationship between child and teacher, and the accountability requirements of Western ECCE can be found. Such hybrid philosophies allow for the values associated with established ECD/ECCE philosophies to be maintained, but to be married with philosophies and practices derived from local culture. Such hybrid philosophies are not only useful for practitioners in specific contexts, but also have value for researchers in the field of ECCE, as they can cast new light on established theoretical models and how they are interpreted globally. This research will endeavor to uncover further examples of such hybrid philosophies.

Theme 3: ECCE and the Lived Experience

It seems clear that, regardless of national context, the primary exponents of ECCE are the ECCE educators themselves (Durham, 2012), and those who wish to understand how ECCE programs function at the macro-level need to have a comprehension of the

76 types of experiences and relationships that can occur within the context of ECCE classrooms. Understanding the lived-experiences of ECCE educators can provide invaluable insight into the complex and culturally bounded experiences of practitioners in this particular field (van Manen, 1990). There is also evidence that the lived-experiences of ECCE educators have a direct influence upon individual praxis (Daugbjerg, Freitas, &

Valero, 2013; Durham, 2012; Hart & Swars, 2009). In this next section, I will explore phenomenology and the lived experience and how this particular branch of philosophy has influenced the field of educational research, with particular focus on the field of international and global ECCE.

Table 4

Lived-experiences Literature Search

Author(s) Source/Publisher Title Description

LIVED EXPERIENCES Ayako, K. (2008) Journal of Family and Japanese Family and Phenomenological study Consumer Services Consumer Sciences Teachers’ attempted to understand the Lived experiences: Self- lived experiences of Japanese Disclosure in the Classroom family and consumer science teachers’ self-disclosure in the classroom Weng, X. Lin, J (2013) Frontiers of Education China Building Bridges in a Third Study explores the lived Space: A Phenomenological experiences of Chinese Study of the Lived Experiences teachers in American Chinese of teaching Chinese in schools American Chinese Schools Perold, M. Oswald, M. Swart, Education as Change Care, Performance and Study of the care practices of E. (2012) Performativity: Portraits of teachers in a primary school in teachers’ Lived Experiences a vulnerable community through the examination of the lived experiences of the teachers Durham, P. (2012) Sam Houston State University Constructing Voices Through Phenomenological study Lived-Experiences: A explores the ways in which Phenomenological Study of five Texas novice reading Novice Reading Teachers’ teachers constructed personal Personal Understanding of understanding of their Pedagogical Ownership and pedagogical development and Professional Identity identity Daugbjerg, P. S. Freitas, E. Cultural Studies of Science Mapping the entangled Study investigates how Education Ontology of science Teachers’ teachers’ lived experiences Lived Experience relates to how science teachers’ deal with bodies as living organisms which are both the subject matter as well as the site or vehicle of learning

Ironside, P. M (2003) University of Wisconsin- New Pedagogies for Teaching Study uses Heideggerian Madison thinking: The Lived hermeneutics to explore how experiences of students and teachers and students Teachers Enacting Narrative experience enacting a new Pedagogy pedagogy, narrative Pedagogy Bridwell, S. D. (2012) Journal of Ethnographic and School Leadership: Lessons Lived experiences of 12 Qualitative Research From the Lived Experiences of African-American teachers Urban teachers from urban districts in Georgia, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania explored Alvine. L. (2001) The University of North Shaping the Teaching Self Teachers write Carolina Press Through Autobiographical autobiographical narratives Narrative providing insight into their lived experiences Garbett, D. Tynan, B. (2007) Australian Journal of early Storytelling as a Means of Paper makes public a means by Childhood Reflecting on the Lived which we reflected on how Experience of Making authors constructed and taught Curriculum in Teacher a curriculum about subject Education content knowledge in the field of ECCE Hart, L. C. Swars, S. L. Teacher Development The Lived Experiences of Phenomenological study elementary Prospective examines the lived experiences Teachers in Mathematics of elementary prospective Content Coursework teachers in mathematics content courses

Phenomenology; to the Things Themselves

Phenomenology is a field of philosophy that developed in pre-first World-War

Germany and is rooted in the works of Immanuel Kant (1781) and Georg Wilhelm

Friedrich Hegel (1807). Kant notes that the human experience is characterized by a parting and categorization of sense-data and this is one of the fundamental properties of human consciousness. In the state of nature there are no such things as trees or branches or leaves, these are merely categories which the human mind gives to certain portions of sense-data due to a priori properties of the mind. The rise of enlightenment thinking in the 17th and 18th centuries increased this innate propensity of dissecting and categorizing portions of sense-data, through the process of scientific enquiry (Cannella, 1997).

In many ways phenomenology can be seen as a reaction to the increasing atomization that was driven by the modern scientific/enlightenment discourse (Dowling,

2005), where phenomena are reduced ad infinitum, e.g. the atom is partitioned into protons and neutrons, which in turn are broken down into quarks etc. The motto of the

78 phenomenological movement was zu den sachen (a return to the things themselves), and was a call to return to the thing that really mattered, the human experience (Hegel, 1804).

In his book Phenomenology of Spirit, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1804) expressed the position that phenomenology is “the Science of the experience of consciousness” (p.

56). He considered the experience of consciousness in a holistic fashion, as it resists verificationism5. In fact, Hegel (1804) rejected what he referred to as monochromatic formalism, saying that “when the knowing subject goes around applying this single inert form to whatever it encounters, and dipping the material into this placid element from outside …this formalism maintains that such monotony and abstract universality are the absolute” (p. 9). Phenomenology is the opposite of verificationism, in that it does not seek to deconstruct phenomenon to uncover its smallest component units, or disembbed them from their local context (Giddens, 1990). Rather it is concerned with the holistic nature of conscious human experience and how the lebenswelt (life-world) is comprehended in its entirety within the individual mind.

Martin Heidegger (1927), the hermeneutic phenomenologist, shared Hegel’s

(1804) passion for the individual human experience as it is lived. He proposed a hermeneutic approach to interpreting the human lived experience (what he termed dasein), based upon the ontological premise that the lived experience is an ongoing interpretative process, where the individual makes sense of their experiences. Heidegger placed the individual interpretation of the meaning of being at the center of his model of phenomenology. Heidegger took the position that human interpretations of dasein centered on the issue of human temporality, where time is always a standpoint for individual interpretations. Heidegger proposes (much like Hegel) that individual

5 http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_verificationism.html 79 reflections upon temporality and dasein should be viewed as gestalten (a configuration that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts).

A phenomenological approach to research is often utilized in the social sciences

(van Manen, 1990). One of the key advantages to this approach is that it can provide thick-description of the lived-experiences of professionals in specific fields.

Phenomenology’s lack of focus on discrete, generalizable units of analysis makes it well suited to examining ECCE, with its complex array of hierarchical social interactions, content knowledge and the inherent complexity of ECD (Chomsky, 1988; Piaget, 1945;

Vygotsky, 1978;), which often seems to resist verificationist reductions (Burton, 2012).

Although the results of phenomenological studies cannot be inferred onto other populations in the way that most quantitative research can, van Manen states that “a good phenomenological description is an adequate elucidation of some aspect of the lifeworld- it resonates with our sense of lived life” (p. 27). These resonations, although not alternative hypotheses (Ha) supporting/rejecting in the manner of traditional quantitative hypothesis testing, can provide invaluable knowledge about the experiences of ECCE educators, particularly in international or global contexts.

To create good phenomenological descriptions phenomenology relies upon hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is, according to van Manen (1990), the theory and practice of interpretation. Van Manen describes hermeneutics as being inherently critical, in that it tries to resolve misunderstandings and romantic because its primary focus is recording and interpreting the thoughts of the participant. These two goals are achieved through the researcher being:

Sensitive to the subtle undertones of language, to the way language speaks when

it allows the things themselves to speak. This means that an authentic speaker

must be a true listener, able to attune to the deep tonalities of language that

normally fall out of our accustomed range of hearing. (p. 112)

It is hermeneutic phenomenology’s ability to listen sensitively and deeply that makes it a suitable tool for educational research.

Hart and Swars (2009) utilized the phenomenological approach to research because they consider phenomenology to be an exploratory methodology, which focuses upon how individual teachers make sense of their experiences and transform these experiences into consciousness. They approached the phenomenological study utilizing

Husserl’s notion of bracketing, where the researchers make their preconceptions and presuppositions about the issue at hand overt, so that they can fully comprehend the nature of the subjects’ lived-experiences. The researchers randomly selected 12 prospective teachers enrolled in an elementary teacher preparation program at a large, urban university in the southeastern USA, from a cohort of 99 student teachers. Semi- structured interviews formed the basis of data collected for this research. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically coded, with themes being compared across interviewers. The study uncovered a series of mismatches between the lived-experiences of prospective teachers and the course content of the preparatory programs in which they were involved. One mismatch often expressed was that which exists between pedagogical approach and subject matter content, with students complaining that the mathematical content of the preparatory programs was too advanced for their needs in elementary classrooms and the pedagogical requirements involved when working with young

81 children. The authors determined that the reason for this was rooted in a fundamental disparity between the lived-experiences of teachers in the mathematics department and those in the elementary education department. The authors concluded that there was an unambiguous need for teachers of content courses to have insight into elementary students and the elementary mathematics curriculum.

Daugsbjerg, Freitas, and Valero (2013) highlight the value of the phenomenological approach to educational research as it allows researchers to map teacher’s lived-experiences, which “are emergent in specific teaching situations” (p. 782).

The evolving, shifting and context related nature of teacher’s experiences is, according to the researchers, rooted in the temporality of a given educational situation, as Heidegger

(1927) made clear. Despite the constantly shifting nature of teacher practices, there are continuities to teacher experiences that can be identified, both for the individual and as cross-cutting themes that can be recognized by other professionals in the field. An important point made by Daugsbjerg, Freitas, and Valero (2013) is that teachers’ experiences become seasoned over time, forming more general patterns of experience and contributing directly to future actions and perceptions. This means that analysis of lived- experiences can, in some situations, have a predictive value, particularly for those individuals involved in a study. The researchers concluded that teachers’ lived- experiences:

Indicate that the teachers’ living body is not a solitary timeless gestalt. The

teachers’ past experiences of teaching and life in general are always present as

embodied corporeality and are expressed through observable actions of the

teachers. (p. 784)

In this way, it is possible to create linkages between context specific teacher actions and diverse teacher lived-experiences across space and time.

The notion that teachers’ lived-experiences are embodied in current educational actions was supported by a research study carried out by Perold, Oswald, and Swart

(2012). Their study focused upon the care practices of teachers in a primary school in a low-income neighborhood in the West-Cape, South Africa. It examined the influence of performance culture on the lived-experiences of teachers and the role language played in the meaning-making of teachers on the subject of care. In an environment where teachers are placed under scrutiny by the district offices, they are expected to function as agents of change despite the fact that they are provided with little autonomy or ownership over the educational process. Data was generated via group discussions and individual/focus group interviews with teachers. All these interactions were recorded and transcribed and the data was analyzed using the constant comparative method, where all transcriptions are coded simultaneously, with researcher triangulation. The researchers concluded that differing interpretations of circumstances, culture and language, based upon individual lived-experiences, can potentially lead to different courses of action by teachers in an educational context. In addition, they concluded that in the culture of educational accountability that exists in South Africa many important aspects of the teachers’ work, such as caring for the learners, is obscured by the constant pressure to achieve measurable educational outcomes. The authors raise the important point that changing the nature of educational practice does not only change how teachers and educators behave, but also how they self-identify as teachers and as individuals.

A key advantage to documenting the lived-experiences of teachers is that it allows issues to arise that run counter to the prevalent narratives within the field of education

(Daugbjerg, Freitas, & Valero, 2015; Weng & Lin, 2013), challenging established ethos’s and invigorating the field. Alvine (2001) suggested that the study of the lived-experiences of women, through the use of autobiographical writing, can function as an act of resistance against oppressive status-quo forces. By studying the autobiographical writings of three female teachers, she discovered how early experiences with education played an important role in forming how the women thought about their profession. The author proposes that autobiographical writings should be a part of teacher training, for when teachers are dealing with theoretical material they will be more receptive to its content if they have developed awareness of their own embedded preconceptions. In much the same way as with Husserl’s notion of bracketing, Alvine proposes the bringing forward of embedded understandings. By comparing these embedded understandings to educational literature, teachers can “bring together the external and internal, the received and the intuited, the public and the private” (p. 10). This process allows teachers to have a more equitable relationship with theoretical materials, neither subsuming themselves completely to them, nor discarding them out of hand because they conflict with personally held beliefs. They facilitate the formation of hybrid philosophies that allow local experience to be juxtaposed with abstract knowledge (Fees, Hoover. & Zheng,

2014; Rothbaum, Nagaoka, & Ponte, 2006).

Using analysis of lived-experiences in the formation of new, critical pedagogies was the focus of Bridwell’s 2012 study. The study was guided by the question “How do

African American teachers in urban contexts view their profession?” (p. 53), particularly

84 focusing upon the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) through the lens of

Critical Race Theory (CRT). The study used personal storytelling to access the lived- experiences of the participants, a method drawn from Feminism. Twelve teachers participated in 1-2 hour semi-structured interviews in which a semi-structured interview protocol was utilized. The interviews were transcribed and coded using thematic analysis.

Transcripts and thematic codes were shared with participants for member checking. The

African-American teachers were shown to be deeply invested in helping their students to envisage a world beyond the confines of their immediate surroundings. This desire to support students in their development often came in direct conflict with the requirements of the NCLB standards. These standards often focused upon low level basic skills content, which were assessed through high-stakes accountability measures. Should the students fail to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) a series of escalating and increasingly intrusive sanctions were triggered which caused fear in predominantly minority schools. The outcome of these events is that “rather than enhancing conditions for student achievement as intended, punitive AYP threats too often cause students of color and teachers in high-poverty schools to experience pressures inequitably” (p. 53).

Bridwell concluded that phenomenological research can serve as the basis for forming more nuanced educational/pedagogical strategies, which can help teachers meet the challenges of high-needs learning environments.

The lived-experiences of teachers seem to be of vital importance in education

(Alvine, 2001; Bridwell, 2012; Garbett, & Tynan, 2007), because lived-experiences strongly influence educator praxes (Perold, Oswald, & Swart, 2012), and phenomenological research is a powerful method to document and analyze such

85 experiences (van Manen, 1990). The use of Westernized styles of ECCE curricula and large-scale quantitative assessments around the world would appear to mask the diverse lived-experiences of ECCE educators (Fees, Hoover, & Zheng, 2014) and the hybrid educational philosophies that they produce (Rothbaum, Nagaoka, & Ponte, 2006).

Phenomenology, because it focuses upon the experiences of the individual, is well suited to uncovering alternative educational conceptions, which run counter to status-quo views of ECCE. This study focuses upon the lived-experiences of ECCE educators in Lebanon and Denmark, focusing upon alternative conceptions of ECCE and examining how national culture influences ECCE educators’ perceptions and praxes.

Theme 4: Educator Perceptions in ECCE

As we have seen, the lived-experiences of teachers and ECCE educators have a direct influence upon praxis. This seems to be because the corporal embodiment of experience shapes the contours of ECCE educators’ perceptions (Hannaway, Steyn, &

Hartell, 2014; Perold, Oswald, & Swart, 2012). Perception is a complex cognitive process that has a direct influence upon the ECCE educators’ praxis (Ebrahim, 2015; Hannaway,

Steyn, & Hartell, 2014; Wen, 2015). In this next section I will examine the foundations of perception and also how perception influences ECCE educators’ praxes.

Table 5

Literature Search Educator Perspectives in ECCE

Author(s) Source/Publisher Title Description TEACHER PERCEPTIONS Meyer, A. J. Mann, M. B. Springer Science + Business A Five-Year Follow-Up: Study seeks to replicate Becker, J. (2011) Media Teachers’ Perceptions of the previous research about benefits of Home Visits for teachers’ perceived benefits of Early Elementary Children home visits to determine if they remain stable Zinsser, K. M. Shewark, E. A. Infant and Child Development A Mixed-Method Examination Study examines private Denham, S. A. Curby, T. W. of Preschool Teacher Beliefs preschool and headstart teachers (2014) About Social-Emotional (n=32) were observed using the Learning and Relations to Classroom Assessment Scoring Observed Emotional Support System

Rothbaum, F. Nagaoka, R. Journal of Research in Caregiver Sensitivity in Cultural Study examines interviews with Ponte, I C. (2006) Childhood Education Context: Japanese and USA 20 preschool teachers (Japan Teachers Beliefs About and USA) to see how culture Anticipating and Responding to influences perceptions of care Children’s Needs Hoffman, D. M. (2003) International review of Childhood Ideology in the Study describes contemporary Education United States: A Comparative American mainstream beliefs Cultural View concerning children’s early emotional expression, autonomy, individuality, power and consumerism Fees, S. B. Hoover L. Zheng, F. Springer Science + Business Chinese Kindergarten Teachers’ Qualitative and Media Perceived Changes in Their phenomenological approaches Teaching Philosophies and utilized to interview eight Practices: A Case Study in a master teachers and University-Affiliated Program former/current administrators in a university-affiliated kindergarten program in a city in China Leung, C. Wong, B. K. Wong, The Hong Kong Institute of Conceptions of Learning in Pre- Dual analysis used to examine J. (2013) Education Service and In-Service Early the conceptions of learning of Childhood Education Students both pre-service and in-service and the Impact of Teaching ECCE teaching students Experience Taylor, S. Lee, Y. Franceschini, Research in Comparative and How are Notions of childcare Study examines similarities and L. (2011) International Education Similar or Different among differences in the perceptions of American, Chinese, Japanese childcare among American and Swedish Teachers? Chinese, Japanese and Swedish ECCE educators Steyn, M. G. Harris, T. Hartell, South African Journal of Institutional Factors that Affect Study examines perspectives of C. G. (2014) Education Black South African Students black ECCE students to find out Perceptions of Early Childhood why so few complete their Teacher education training in South Africa Hamaidi, D. Homidi, M. Reyes, International Journal of special International Views of Inclusive Research study explores ECCE L. V. (2012) Education Education: A Comparative educator’s perceptions of Study of Early Childhood academic aspects and social and Educator’s Perceptions in emotional aspects of inclusion Jordan, United Arab Emirates practices and the United States of America Hegde, V. Cassidy, D. J. (2009) Journal of Research in Kindergarten teachers’ Qualitative study examining 12 Childhood Education Perspectives on ECCE teachers’ beliefs, Developmentally Appropriate regarding DAP conducted in Practices (DAP): A Study Mumbai Conducted in Mumbai (India) Heo, K. H. Cheatham, G. A. Journal of Early Intervention Korean Early childhood Study investigates young Hemmeter, M. L. Noh, J. (2014) Educators’ Perceptions of children’s social-emotional Importance and Implementation competencies and challenging of strategies to Address Young behaviours and ECCE educators Children’s Social-Emotional perspectives and strategies Competence Alvestad, M. Duncan, J. (2006) International Journal of Early “The Value is Enormous- It’s Examines a group of New childhood Priceless I Think!” New Zealand preschool Teachers’ Zealand Preschool Teachers’ perspectives on their early Understanding of the Early childhood curriculum Childhood Curriculum in New Zealand- A Comparative Perspective Pardhan, A. (2012) Frontiers of Education China Pakistani Teachers’ Perceptions Paper considers perceptions of of Kindergarten Children’s children’s learning and Learning: An Exploration of classroom practice to support Understanding and Practice learning in Pakistani ECCE context from interviews with two teachers Oun, T. Ugaste, A. Tuul, M. European Early Childhood Perceptions of Estonian Pre- Study examines how teachers in Niglas, K. (2010) Education research Journal school Teachers about the the Step by step and traditional Child-Centred Activities in kindergartens assess their child- Different Pedagogical centred activities Approaches

Gichuru, M. Riley, J. G. Multicultural Education Perceptions of head Start Qualitative study examined how Robertson, J. Park, M. (2011) Teachers about Culturally children’s cultural backgrounds Relevant Practice are reflected in Head Start classrooms from teacher perspectives Lord, A. McFarland, L. Sturt, C. Australian Journal of Teacher Pre-service Primary teachers’ Study examines the experiences (2010) Education Perceptions of early childhood of three primary teacher Philosophy and Pedagogy: A education students participating Case Study Examination in early childhood-focused community play sessions Brostrom, S. et al. (2014) Early Child Development and Preschool Teachers’ Views on Comparative study investigates Care Children’s Learning: an the perspectives of preschool International Perspective teachers in Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece and Sweden about learning and participation in preschool Al-Barakat, A. A. Bataineh, R. Journal of Research in Preservice childhood Education Study uses semi-structured F. (2011) Childhood Education Teachers’ Perceptions of interview to explore 93 Instructional Practices for Jordanian preservice teachers’ Developing Young Children’s perceptions of instructional Interest in Reading practices for developing young children’s interest in reading Hanline, M. F. (2010) Teacher Education and Special Preservice Teachers’ Qualitative study identifies Education Perceptions of Field events in field experiences of Experiences in Inclusive ECCE preservice teachers that Preschool Settings: Implications were perceived as influencing for Personnel Preparation their understanding of ECCE practices Quinn, S. M. F. Schwartz, K. Journal of Early Childhood Preservice Teachers’ Research examines the (2011) Teacher Education Perceptions of Pedagogic perceptions of ECCE preservice Documentation Techniques in educators in relation to earning Early childhood Teacher the techniques of pedagogic Preparation documentation with young children

Garvis S. Pendergast, D. (2015) Australasian Journal of Early What do Early Childhood Study explores the perceptions Childhood Teacher Graduands Say About of pre-service teachers who had working With Infants and recently finished their final Toddlers?: an Exploratory semester of study before Investigation of Perceptions graduation

Nicholson, S. Reifel, S. (2011) Journal of Early Childhood Sink or swim: Child Care Study explores ECCE Teacher Education teachers’ Perceptions of Entry educators’ perceptions of their Training Experiences initial preservice and in-service training experiences

Ebrahim, H. B. et al. (2015) South African Journal of Higher Teacher Educators’ Conceptions Reports on a qualitative study Education of Teaching and Learning in the that investigated teacher Early Years educator’s conceptions of teaching and learning

Gehrs, J. S. Gooze, R. A. Child: Care, Health and Teachers’ Perceptions about Study conducted six focus Whitaker, R. C. (2014) Development Children’s Movement and groups with 37 teachers from a Learning in early Childhood Head Start programme for Education Programmes perceptions on movement and pedagogy

Pei-Wen, T. See, T. L. Jyh- Australasian Journal of Early Teachers’ Versus Parents’ Study explores teachers’ versus Chong, L. Ling, Y. F. (2015) Childhood Perceptions of Professionalism parents’ perceptions of ECCE of Early Childhood Teachers; A Mixed-Methods Study

Tokmak, H. S. Ozgelen, S. Education Sciences: Theory and The ECE Pre-Service Teachers’ Case-study examines ECCE (2013) Practice Perception on factors Affecting pre-service teachers’ the Integration of educational perceptions on the factors Computer Games in Two affecting integration of Conditions: Selecting versus computer games in their Redesigning instruction

Hannaway, D. Steyn, M. Unisa Press The Influence of Ecosystemic Study explores how Hartell, C. (2014) Factors on black Student ecosystemic factors influenced teachers’ Perceptions and black students teachers’ experience of Early Childhood perceptions and experiences of Education ECCE

Phoon, H. S. Abdullah, M. L. Y. Asia-Pacific Education Unveiling Malaysian Preschool Paper reports the findings of Abdullah, A. C (2013) Researcher Teachers’ Perceptions and survey involving 854 preschool Attitudes in Multicultural Early teachers who were serving in Childhood Education both public and private preschools in Malaysia

Garvis, S. Pendergast, D. (2015) Australasian Journal of Early What do Early Childhood Study explores the perceptions Childhood Teacher Graduands Say About of pre-service ECCE educators Working with Infants and who have recently finished their Toddlers? An Exploratory final semester of study Investigation of Perceptions

The Foundations of Perception

The nature of perception has long been of interest to philosophers. Immanuel

Kant (1781) made an extensive philosophical inquiry into the nature of human perception, making the case that perception is the function of the mind, which allows it to respond to the phenomena in experience, but simultaneously precedes nature, according to unwavering laws and compels nature to answer human questions. The primary function of perception is to respond to sense data derived from the plurality (vielfalt) of nature, but the mind is derived from the very nature which it perceives and so the mechanisms that undergird perception are the self-same as those which exist in vielfalt.

This fact, according to Kant, allows for a priori forms of human knowledge, with two key a priori constructs being time and space. Kant states that, “space is not a conception which has been derived from outward experiences… [it] serves for the foundation of all external intuitions” (p. 3). According to Kant, time functions in the same way as space.

He stipulates that “time is a necessary representation, lying at the foundation of all our intuitions…In it alone is all reality of phenomena possible” (p. 7). Human perception, from this perspective, exists at the nexus of the a priori conditions of time and space and they determine the fundamental form and content of all perceptions.

Psychologists have also shown a strong interest into the nature of perception

(Adler, 1955). The psychoanalyst Alfred Adler defined human perception as “the special abilities of the psyche which play the main part in bringing about our picture of the world” (p. 210). One of the chief characteristics of perception, according to Adler, is its selectivity. In any given situation, an individual will only perceive a certain portion of vielfalt, based upon the previous experiences of the individual. It cannot be compared to a camera, because perception always contains something of the individual’s uniqueness and if multiple individuals view the same vielfalt then they will perceive different facets of it. Adler concludes that perception is more than a mere physical process, it is also a function of human psychology, one from which it is possible to draw profound conclusions about the inner self of the individual. Pickens (2005) defined perceptions as being “the process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the world” (p. 52). When an individual is confronted with certain sense-data, a given situation, events are interpreted based upon prior experiences.

Perceptions seem to be formed through a combination of our biological predispositions and our lived-experiences. It is the biological foundations of perception that allow them to be communicated and translated to other contexts, but it is lived experience which provides perceptions with their unique and individuated nature. In

ECCE perceptions are important as they form the basis of praxis. What the educator

90 perceives (a happy, needy, intelligent or rambunctious child) dictates the ECCE strategies that they use at a given juncture and therefore comprehending the perceptions of ECCE educators can provide invaluable insight into what drives ECCE praxis and the decisions made within the ECCE classroom.

Perceptions of ECCE

Teacher training is an important period in the career of ECCE educators, one in which many of their perceptions about the field of ECCE are formed (Ebrahim, 2015;

Lord, McFarland, & Sturt, 2010; Nicholson & Reifel, 2011). Little research has been done on the role of teacher trainers in the field of ECCE, although it has been observed that “teacher educators develop their own professional competencies, knowledge and pedagogy whilst in practice” (pp. 57-58). Ebrahim (2015) focused his research upon

ECCE teacher educators’ perceptions of teaching and learning. Perceptions were measured through the use of dialogue, which the researchers considered to be “an integral part of a participatory process, where people communicate to share their perceptions of reality” (p. 58). Additionally, the dialogic approach supports the process of reflection for the individual, allowing them to make sense of their perceptions and experiences.

The study foregrounded the subjective perspectives of six ECCE teacher educators, all female, from the University of Free States (UFS) in Bloemfontein, South

Africa. Blogs and group discussions were used to generate data. The discussions were transcribed and both the blogs and discussions were analyzed thematically and cross cutting themes were discussed by the researchers. The research uncovered that ECCE teacher educators’ perceptions of their work were linked to critical experiences in their personal lives, such as experiences with education in their youth, theoretical perspectives

91 which they had come in contact with when studying, personal role-models, socio- economic status and religious convictions. This has important implications for this research study, as I am interested in examining how lived-experiences, in different national contexts, influences ECCE educator perceptions. In addition, ECCE teacher educators utilized a broad range of theoretical ideas to inform their teaching practices, with white teacher educators drawing more upon the field of psychology and the black teacher educators drawing more upon ideas from the field of Critical Theory. The researchers concluded that ECCE teacher educators construct unique perspectives about their role, based upon a broad range of personal experiences. Despite this variety, the group discussions did seem to forge common ground between the diverse perspectives, allowing for new ideas related to ECCE teacher educator curriculum to emerge, with the researchers noting “the importance of construction of meaning as learning” (p.67). This is not only true for the ECCE teacher educators, but also for the student ECCE educators, for whom a perspective-centered approach to their training would provide a platform from which it would be possible to interrogate their own praxes, develop a critical approach to ECCE practice, and challenge limiting ECCE theories and pedagogies.

Nicholson and Reifel (2011) examined the perceptions of eighteen female trainee

ECCE educators working in six for-profit ECCE centers in a suburban area of Texas. In the USA there is no national system for the regulation of ECCE centers, leaving individual states to set their own standards, with 76% of all states not requiring any preservice training of ECCE educators. In Texas ECCE educators are required to complete eight clock hours of in-service training if they enter the field without any previous experience. Directors of twenty randomly chosen for-profit ECCE centers, in three cities,

92 were contacted to enquire about interviewing three ECCE educators from each center.

These directors were active participants in the recruitment process.

Two rounds of semi-structured interviews were used, with the interview questions tailored to explore ECCE educators’ perceptions of their training experiences. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically coded. A key discovery was that most of the participants reported no in-service training before working in ECCE settings, and these

ECCE educators felt that they had been left to “sink or swim” (p. 10) when they began work. Many of the educators saw issues at their prospective ECCE institutes, such as staffing problems, as the main reason why they had not received the required in-service training. High turnover of staff was another reason why ECCE educators were not provided with in-service training, as they were needed to work immediately to meet state mandated adult-child ratios. This led many ECCE educators to develop personal pedagogies to work in various ECCE settings. Common sense became the foundation upon which ECCE related decisions were made. The educators utilized their own personal experiences, as children and adults, along with trial and error, to guide their praxes.

In light of the research, Nicholson and Reifel (2011) concluded that good ECCE teacher education needs to feel meaningful for participants, has to be rooted in classroom experiences, and should make connections between education and the personal experiences of the participants. For those ECCE educators tenacious enough to stay in the field, their hard won experience seems to have served as an apprenticeship, where many of the same skills that potentially could be taught in a classroom setting were acquired through a process of trial and error. This seems to suggest that although classroom tuition

93 may be important in preparing preservice ECCE educators to work in the field, work experience is also valuable and combining these two elements is probably the most appropriate form which ECCE teacher education can take.

There is a strong connection between the lived-experiences of individual ECCE educators and their perceptions of praxis (Ebrahim, Martin, Koen, Daries, Olivier & Van

Zyl, 2015; Hannaway, Steyn, & Hartell, 2014; Hegde & Cassidy, 2009; Leung, Wong, &

Wong, 2013; Nicholson & Reifel, 2010). This also seems to influence how ECCE educators perceive ECD itself, the theoretical models they use to analyze early childhood behavior, and the modes of practice that they choose, on the basis of their interpretations

(Gichuru et al., 2015; Hoffman, 2003; Lord & McFarland, 2010; Pardhan, 2012). Lord and McFarland studied the experiences of three primary teacher education students who were participating in ECCE community play sessions. The purpose of the study was to explore if different teacher backgrounds would give rise to different theoretical perspectives on ECD and thereby give rise to different approaches to ECCE pedagogy.

The rationale behind the study was that although the early school years fall under the rubric of ECD, the approaches to teaching, theoretical models, curriculum and parent- teacher interactions vary for pre-school and K-12 children.

Three pre-service teachers from the University of New South Wales, Australia, participated in the study. They were all in training to become primary school teachers, but had experience working with ECCE due to the play sessions that they were involved in.

Data was gathered with the use of a single focus group interview, lasting approximately one hour. The interview was semi-structured, with questions created a priori, but where the interviewer could prompt the participants in order to uncover more information. The

94 interview was transcribed and thematically coded and researcher triangulation was used to ensure the reliability of the final themes. The participants noted several differences between ECCE and primary school curriculum development, whereby the ECCE curriculum centered on the children’s individual interests, whereas primary school curriculum was rooted in a mandated syllabus. The preservice teachers found it hard to adapt to the ECCE approach, with one participant commenting “where is my syllabus! ...I found this hard” (p. 7). The teachers found it hard to adapt to the fluid nature of ECCE, where educators are expected to follow the interests and needs of the individual child, as opposed to dictating the form and content of children’s experiences. Play, which has a central role in ECD and ECCE (Erikson, 1950; Piaget, 1945), was also difficult for the preservice primary teachers to adapt to. They could not comprehend how learning and play could be so closely interwoven in ECCE. One participant commented:

I understood play and learning but I didn’t understand how it all worked

together…We don’t focus on play at all in primary. Play is just at lunch time and

we supervise. (p. 9)

Lord and McFarland (2010) concluded that there was a lack of continuity between ECCE praxis and primary school education and this made it hard for primary teachers to comprehend ECCE. They noted that the participant teachers were used to dealing with children who have already achieved a reasonably high-level of development, where they could communicate and be reasonably independent, but the teachers had not considered how they get to this stage.

ECCE is a complex field (Alvestad & Duncan, 2006; Hegde & Cassidy, 2009;

Hoffman, 2003; Izu, 2006; Zinsser et al., 2014), even more so in multicultural

95 environments, and ECD constitutes a critical phase of the child’s development, which can influence their development throughout the life cycle (Siddiqi, Irwin, & Hertzman, 2007).

Given the complexity of many modern ECCE settings, it is important that ECCE educators are equipped with the requisite knowledge and skills to be able to balance the requirements of complex multicultural ECCE (Phoon, Abdullah & Abdullah, 2013;

Leung, Wong, & Wong, 2013; Pardhan, 2012). Phoon et al. (2013) reported the findings of a survey involving 854 ECCE educators serving in public and private ECCE centers in

Malaysia. The authors stress that the primary aim of multicultural education is to ensure that any child, regardless of gender or cultural background, will have equal opportunities to learn in school and they make the case that multi-cultural education should begin in preschool as this is a critical developmental phase, that has implications for behavior and perceptions for the whole life-cycle.

The aim of the study was to determine ECCE educators’ perceptions and attitudes in multicultural classrooms. The survey was conducted in the northern region of Malaysia in the states of Perlis, Kedah and Penang; 854 ECCE educators participated in the survey,

33 males and 814 females, in both public and private ECCE centers. A self-report questionnaire was designed specifically to identify preschool teachers’ perceptions of multi-cultural education. The survey consisted of three open ended questions and thematic analysis was used to analyze their content. The majority of the participants felt that multicultural education hinged upon learning about the cultures of different ethnic groups, agreed that it was important to introduce multi-cultural education at the ECCE level, and thought that their colleagues shared their belief in the importance of multicultural ECCE. The authors critiqued the comprehension which the majority of

96 participants articulated, namely that multi-cultural education revolves around getting to understand the cultures of ethnic minorities. They contested that “multicultural education is both a concept and a deliberate process designed to teach learners to recognize, accept and appreciate differences in culture, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, religion,

[and] special needs” (p. 434).

Perception is a useful unit of analysis in ECCE research, as it can inform us about how educators respond to an educational environment and to the children in their care

(Gichuru, 2015; Hannaway, Steyn, & Hartell, 2014; Heo et al., 2014). Perceptions can provide a direct linkage to the lived-experiences of the ECCE educators. In this way connections and parallels can be made between the ECCE educators’ own childhood experiences, the norms and values of their own local/national cultures and their perceptions and modes of praxis in ECCE settings (Hannaway, Steyn, & Hartell, 2014;

Phoon et al., 2012).

Theoretical Framework

This literature review intends to provide an overview of key issues in the field of international/global ECCE. Aspects of the foregoing review informed my theoretical and conceptual framework. The focus upon the history of ECCE and its current role globally, informed my decision to conduct a comparative case-study, while the lived-experiences and perceptions of ECCE educators were core components of this study. In this next section I introduce the overarching epistemology that guided this study, I demonstrate important theoretical concepts that informed this research and I demonstrate how these concepts informed the theoretical constructs that I used in this study. To underline the distinctions between epistemology, theoretical concepts and theoretical constructs, I

97 designate each section with a level: macro, meso and micro. My epistemology represents the macro-level view of this theoretical framework. Critical Theory is my lens through which I view the world delineated in this study. The theoretical concepts represent my meso-level; they are drawn from the field of Critical Theory and help to determine the contours of social reproduction. The theoretical constructs represent the micro-level of this study. The constructs are operable units that directly informed my data collection.

Macro-level; Epistemology

The overarching epistemological framework for this research study is Critical

Theory. Critical Theory is a broad field, encompassing a multitude of sub-disciplines that can be combined in a range of amalgamations dependent upon requirement and context.

Critical Theory is essentially a modern discipline arising in post-war Europe and rooted in the economic and social theories of Karl Marx (in Bourdieu, 1984) and the psychoanalytic tradition of Sigmund Freud (in Foucault, 1972). It takes as its subject matter critical issues of the current era, such as the changing compositions of the labor movement (Bourdieu, 1998), the repressive nature of education systems (Freire, 1994),

Western capitalism (Chomsky, 1969, 1991), the origins of the penal system (Foucault,

1977) and the impact of colonialism (Said, 1978, 1993). Critical theories are primarily concerned with the evaluation of freedom, justice and happiness in societies.

A key figure in this tradition is the French philosopher, psychologist, and social theorist (1967, 1972, 1977, 1980) Michel Foucault. Foucault is best known for his analysis of social institutions in France (1967, 1973, 1977), creating analyses of their historical formation and examining the social forces that allowed them to survive and flourish. According to Foucault the social institutions that we rely upon in the West to

98 enhance social cohesion and facilitate the social contract (Rousseau, 1762) have more dubious and nefarious origins and functions than is typically recognized. So much so, that it is possible to talk of two (often mutually informing) discourses about the said institutions: what the common people perceive these institutions to be (beneficial, altruistic, humanist) and the elite conceptions (dominating, inculcating, nefarious)

(Foucault, 1980).

It is Foucault’s (1972) notion of discursive regularities that drives this particular study. Foucault notes how public discourse is often characterized by their superficial unity. Foucault makes the case that “as soon as one questions that unity, it loses its self- evidence; it indicates itself, constructs itself, only on the basis of a complex field of discourse” (p. 23). By tearing away the “virtual self-evidence” (p. 26) of discursive unities Foucault posits that an entire field is set free to be reimagined and reformed. My examination of the unities present in the field of international and global ECCE, particularly focusing upon the vaunted universal applicability of Western models of

ECCE, is informed by Foucault’s approach to discourse analysis and this allowed me to critique and rupture the notion universal standards in ECCE (Irwin, Siddiqi, and

Hertzman, 2007), via the examination of the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators in Lebanon and Denmark.

Meso-level; Theoretical Concepts

Two of Pierre Bourdieu’s (1984, 1992) theoretical concepts were utilized in this study, namely habitus and field. Bourdieu equates his notion of habitus with that of individual taste (1984, 1993). He views the notion of personal taste to be intrinsic to all

99 social actions, dictating their form and rooted in the individual’s personal (lived) experiences and the individual’s place within the social hierarchy. Bourdieu states that,

The space of social positions is retranslated into a space of position-takings

through the mediation of the space of dispositions (or habitus). In other words…to

each class of positions there corresponds a class of habitus (or tastes) produced by

the social conditioning associated with the corresponding condition and, through

the mediation of the habitus and its generative capability, a systematic set of

goods and properties, which are united by an affinity of style. (pp. 7-8)

As human beings, we are born into preexisting social groups and the social position of our parents forms our conceptions of the world from the time we are born

(Plato, 380 BC; Berger and Luckmann, 1966). The modes of comportment, types of social-interactions, world-views and utilization of goods and commodities that the child meets in its early years dictate the formation of habitus, the individual culmination of habituated tastes and dispositions (Bourdieu, 1994). The habitus functions as a cohesive and coherent synthesis of the individual’s lived-experiences, giving rise to “an affinity of style” (Bourdieu, 1993, p. 8), which signals to the social world the individual’s background and place within the social hierarchy. The individual is often not consciously aware of the mechanics of this process, as habitus is (for the individual) the natural result of their cumulative experiences. Given the temporality of the human condition, this process of habitus formation is constant and ongoing, with parents’ habitus forming the foundations of the habitus of their offspring and so on. This process, according to

Bourdieu, accounts for the relative stability of modern social systems with relatively little social movement from the bottom classes to the upper.

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The individual habitus is strongly influenced by the society into which the individual is born and particularly the social groups with which the individual comes into direct contact. The intellectual (reason) content of society, which dictates the contours of habitus, is generated in what Bourdieu (1994) termed as social fields. Bourdieu states “I believe indeed that there is a social history of reason, which is coextensive with the history of these [fields]” (p. 138). Habitus is not formed on the basis of a priori truths

(Kant, 1781), but rather on a constantly shifting array of discursive formations, generated in discrete social fields, through the positioning of key figures. These key figures position themselves in order to maximize their influence and their concentration of capital6. As participants in a given field grow old and pass away new participants join the field, ensuring the dynamic nature of these social structures, but new members have had their habitus formed by the previous generation and this accounts for the relative stability and cohesion of fields over time.

Micro-level; Theoretical Constructs

The two theoretical concepts, habitus and field, were used as a theoretical framework for the five constructs which I wished to study. These five constructs are: the socio-cultural context/fields in which the educators live and work, the educators’ own hermeneutic interpretations of their lived-experiences, the ECCE educators’ habitus, formed by their particular lived-experiences, the educators’ perceptions of the fields of

ECD and ECCE, the participants’ praxes and the nature of adult-child interactions in the context of ECCE classrooms. These five constructs were interpreted through a Critical

6.Bourdieu defines (1993) three types of capital, economic, social and cultural. They are interchangeable and the greater quantities of capital an individual obtains the higher their position within the social system.

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Theory lens. It should be noted that the term habitus appears in this paper both as a theoretical concept and as a theoretical construct. Habitus as a theoretical construct should be viewed as an operationalization of Bourdieu’s (1994) theoretical concept and conforms to his ideas on the embodiment of cultural capital in the individual habitus.

Whereas Bourdieu’s concept of habitus serves as the foundation for his macro-level social analysis, in the context of this study habitus is used to explore the unconscious nature of the participants’ views on childhood, which are rooted in their lived- experiences within a specific national/subnational context.

Understanding how ECCE in Lebanon and Denmark have developed to their current state allowed me to contextualize the educators’ lived-experiences and place them in a larger historical context. The lived-experiences of the educators “are related to each other like motifs in the andante of a symphony” (van Manen, 1990, p. 37) and they provided me with insight into educators’ habitus, as informed by their specific lived- experiences. The data collected in this study supported the position that educators’ habitus dictate their perceptions of ECD and ECCE. These perceptions in turn have a direct influence upon the ECCE educators’ modes of behavior within the context of the

ECCE classroom (Ebrahim et al. 2015), and informed me about their specific approaches to ECCE praxis. Gaining insight into how these constructs intersect provided me with important information about how ECCE educators view and conduct their work in different national/subnational contexts.

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Figure 3. Conceptual Framework

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Chapter 3: Methodology

Overview of Methodology

The goal of this, comparative case-study was to explore the lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) educators in

Denmark and Lebanon, as well as the habitus from which perceptions arise (Bourdieu,

1994). Before I began data collection I posited that both perceptions and praxis are deeply entwined with an educator’s lived-experiences and habitus and that these are, to a great extent, dictated by the national/subnational context in which the individual has lived; the data collected for this study seems to support this postulate. ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes were studied through the use of a comparative, embedded-design case-study, utilizing semi-structured and unstructured observations, in-depth phenomenological interviews, researcher journaling, and a document analysis of curricula and national research studies, as well as classroom facilities, equipment, toys etc. Photographs of the classrooms (no humans) were also be taken and analyzed in conjunction with my other observations. Using multiple research methods conforms to method triangulation. Method triangulation is done to increase the trustworthiness of qualitative research. The ECCE educator was the main unit of analysis, with the ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes being conceived of as sub-units in an embedded design. Two ECCE educators in each institution were studied. The data was analyzed thematically, utilizing open, axial and selective coding and a priori themes. Analysis was conducted using the spiral method, where analysis was an ongoing process, running parallel to data collection and report writing and analysis of the data was continued following the completion of data collection.

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In this chapter, I present the methodology that I used to explore the lived- experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of two ECCE educators in Lebanon and two in Denmark. In Section 1 I outline the problem of research, the purpose of the study, my research questions and my subjectivity statement. The problem of research provides an overview of the field of global ECCE and an explanation of the significance of my research. The purpose of the study follows the problem of research and describes in broad terms what this research endeavored to achieve. My research questions drove this study and the choice of research design. The subjectivity statement aims to uncover my own potential biases that can influence this study, through an examination of my own life history. In Section 2, I outline my choice of research design, the research settings and the criteria for inclusion. The research design provides information about the choice of the case-study design for this study. The sub-section named research settings provides an outline of the two countries that I have selected for this study, Lebanon and Denmark.

The sub-section provides a brief historical overview of the two countries and information about the educational and ECCE systems that currently exist in both countries. Included in this section is information about the selection of research sites, participants and the criteria for inclusion. Section 3 presents my chosen methods of data collection and my data management strategies. The data collection methods that I used in this study are in- depth interviews, observations and document analysis. Data management strategies will outline the strategy that used to organize and analyze the data collected for this study.

Section 4 contains information about the trustworthiness of this research design, important ethical considerations relating to potential harm and risk to the research

105 participants, the role of the Internal Review Board (IRB) and important limitations of my study.

Section 1

The Problem of Research

Early Childhood Development (ECD) and ECCE are important and emerging fields, not just domestically, but globally (Siddiqi, Irwin & Hertzman, 2007). Investments in ECCE are deemed to give large economic returns for nation-states (The United

Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF, 2001). The United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) pushed for an increase in global access to ECCE programs as a part of their Education for All (EFA) movement (Fiske, 2000).

ECCE programs offer a broad spectrum of potential benefits, from reducing child mortality rates in the poorest nations (United Nations, 2001), to reducing the negative influences of socio-economic status (SES) (Schweinhart, Barnett, Belfield & Nore,

2005), and improving children’s educational outcomes at later stages of development

(Soudee, 2009). It is thought that to be effective, global ECCE programs must meet certain universal criteria for high-quality (Siddiqi, Irwin & Hertzman), but the nature of these universal criteria is often disputed. Such criteria have been criticized as being ethnocentric, valuing Western theoretical orientations over others (Subramanian, 2015), and failing to recognize the values and needs of specific national or subnational contexts

(Burton, 2012).

In order to better understand how ECCE programs can be employed globally (in accordance with the UNESCO’s EFA goals), it is important to establish in what ways national/subnational environments influence ECCE educators’ views of ECD and ECCE.

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Research has given support to the idea that the lived-experiences of educators have a direct influence upon their perceptions of ECD and ECCE and their modes of praxis

(Perold, Oswald, & Swart, 2012). In addition, the national/subnational context plays a pivotal role in defining notions of high-quality ECCE (Izu, 2006). Increased understanding of how lived-experiences in different national contexts influence ECCE educators’ perceptions and praxes can provide important information about how ECCE programs can be tailored to meet national/subnational requirements and thereby improve the applicability of ECCE programs to specific contexts. As globalization increases in pace and scope and praxes become disembedded from their local contexts and transplanted around the globe (Giddens, 1990), it will become increasingly important to protect and stimulate local culture, and protective measures should be built into large scale programs such as EFA, to ensure that local culture is respected and maintained.

The Purpose of Research

This exploratory study documents, examines and compares the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of two ECCE educators in Lebanon and two in Denmark.

As demonstrated in the conceptual framework in chapter 2, this study takes the position that the socio-cultural context of the ECCE educator constitutes the foundation of their lived-experiences, both as individuals and as professional educators (Perold et al., 2012; van, Manen, 1990). The accumulation of lived-experiences forms the educators’ habitus

(Bourdieu, 1994) and the habitus in turn influences educators’ perceptions, all of which influence praxis (Hannaway, Steyn, & Hartell, 2014).

Before starting data collection I posited that direct linkages could be made between the national/subnational context of the ECCE educator and the educators’

107 perceptions of and interactions with the children in their care, the data collected during this study aligned itself with this position. I perceived there to be a dynamic relationship between the national/subnational context and the perceptions and praxes of individual

ECCE educators, with each national/subnational context harboring a broad spectrum of possible perceptions and praxes, this position was also supported by the data collected for this study. This issue is further complicated by the fact that many established ECCE programs and theories utilized globally are derived from Western models (Hegde &

Cassidy, 2009). These programs and theories have given rise to globally standardized conceptions of ECCE (Siddidqi, Irwin, & Herzman 2007); this was also observed during data collection, particularly in the Lebanese cases. However, I posit that the differing histories and demographics of the two countries could perhaps give rise to distinct perceptions, and that these differences could be substantial enough for distinct interpretations of established ECD/ECCE theory to develop in each case. This position seems to be in alignment with the data collected for this study. The primary goal of this exploratory study was to explore ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE and their praxes. These perceptions were contextualized via the examination of the lived- experiences of the participants, and their influence upon ECCE praxis was studied through classroom observations. Linkages between themes arising from participant lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes were compared and contrasted, both in and between countries.

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Research Questions

The following research questions and sub-questions guided study into the problem of how the national/subnational context shapes ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and their ECCE praxis.

1. What are the professional lived-experiences and habitus of two Danish and two

Lebanese educators?

 How are these ECCE educators’ lived-experiences and habitus similar to

and different from each other?

2. What are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE and what are their

praxes?

 How do the educators’ habitus influence their perceptions?

 How are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE similar to

and different from each other?

 How do these perceptions influence individual praxis?

Subjectivity Statement

As previously stated, this is an exploratory study, where thick description is viewed as being more valuable than potential generalizable findings (Merriam, 2009).

Therefore, I chose to utilize a qualitative research design, which is capable of providing thick descriptions and explanations of social processes in local contexts (Miles &

Huberman, 1994). Of key importance when conducting qualitative research is the role of the researcher and the researcher’s own subjectivity in relationship to the research

(Maxwell, 2013). Qualitative research deals with human relationships in a way that quantitative research does not (Miles & Huberman, 1994), and the lived-experiences of

109 the researcher can therefore influence the researcher’s perceptions of the subject matter under investigation, influencing the countless decisions made during research and interpretations of the data (Fraser, 2007; Maxwell, 2013).

Joseph Maxwell (2013) advocates that “relationships that are complex, fluid, symmetric, and reciprocal- that are shaped by both researchers and actors- reflect a more responsible ethical stance and are likely to yield deeper data and better social science” (p.

92). To achieve such bilateral and egalitarian relationships in research, it is important for the researcher to be aware of researcher subjectivity (Cihelkova, 2013). With qualitative inquiry, researcher-subjectivity is typically addressed through the use of a subjectivity- statement. A subjectivity-statement is a summary of who the researcher is in comparison to the people he is studying (Given et al. 2008), developed from the personal histories, cultural worldviews and professional experiences of the researcher, to identify how researcher subjectivity can potentially influence their research.

I was born in Denmark, on the 30th of May 1978, in a small town called

Silkeborg, which is located in the middle of Jutland (Jylland), in mainland Denmark. I was born there to a Danish mother and an English father, the first of three children and my first language is Danish. When I was two years old, my father moved back to England to find work and my mother stayed in Silkeborg with me until I reached the age of three.

During this period I attended an ECCE program in Denmark. At this time we moved to

England to live with my father and I lived in England until the age of 22, completing all my formal schooling there. My Danish developed and was maintained through communicating with my Danish family.

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At the age of 19, I attended the University of East Anglia (UEA) to study a

Bachelor’s degree in Scandinavian Studies, specializing in translation from Danish to

English. Upon the completion of my degree, I moved to Copenhagen and found employment working as an assistant ECCE educator (pædagogmedhjælper) in an ECCE center north of the city. This was my first experience working with children and I enjoyed the work and felt a natural affinity for it. In Denmark children first attend formal schooling from the age of 7 years and do not receive any formal tuition prior to this time.

Instead these ECCE centers (børnehave) are child-centered, base ECCE practice upon play, and focus on strengthening social interactions and encouraging self-management

(selvforvaltning). At this institution children were divided into different classrooms

(stue). In each classroom there would be a ratio of one trained ECCE educator and two assistant ECCE educators to approximately 20 children aged 3-5 years. The ECCE educators were responsible for the formal aspects of daily life in the institution (planning activities, organizing events, monitoring the children’s development etc.) and the assistant ECCE educators were responsible for a lot of the manual labor at the center

(changing diapers, making lunch for the children, looking after them on the playground etc.). This arrangement is common practice in Danish public ECCE centers.

I continued to work in the field of ECCE as an assistant ECCE educator for the next six years, after which I began a bachelor’s degree to train as an ECCE educator, which included a six month work-placement in Ghana at the Ave Maria School, situated in the capital Accra. It was my first journey outside of Europe, and it was a culture shock for me to arrive in Accra. Upon completing my degree, I was accepted onto the

International Education Master’s program at George Washington University (GWU).

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During my time in this program, I spent three months in Lebanon, working with Ajial, a non-governmental organization that provides ECCE services to the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. These events led me to apply to the Curriculum and Instruction doctoral program and to the formulation of this research proposal.

My experiences over the past several years have led me to reflect on what it means to work in the field of international and global ECCE and how to develop more equitable models for engaging with the global community that value local culture and knowledge. It is my personal goal to create research that can contribute to the creation of more inclusive and globally orientated models of ECCE and this is why this research explores the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators in

Lebanon and Denmark. In addition, during the past three years I have become a father to two children and this experience has heightened my interest in in international and global

ECCE, as my children are likely to experience ECCE in different countries.

Section 2

The Case-Study Research Design

I utilize a qualitative research design for this study. The individual hermeneutic interpretations of lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators are fundamentally psychological in nature, therefore a qualitative research design seemed to be the most suitable way to answer my research questions, as it focuses upon understanding how people interpret their experiences, how they structure their world- views and how they construe their experiences (Merriam, 2009). In this section, I present the case-study research design and I highlight its characteristics that make it suitable for the requirements of this study.

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Case-studies, in educational research, typically focus upon people or programs that always have their own unique traits, but also resemble other like cases (Stake, 1995).

The case can be an individual child or teacher, a specific classroom or school, and the case-study permits the researcher to enter a particular environment in order to examine a case in its own milieu. The case then is a bounded system that is an object and not a process. Stake posits that although people and programs function well in the context of a case-study, events and processes are more difficult to study through the use of this methodology. Smith (1990) suggests that events too can be used as the focus of a case- study and he stipulates three types of case-study: a description of a simple event or occurrence, where some general principle is clearly illustrated; the analysis of a social situation, where some bounded events are analyzed to demonstrate how some established principles manifest themselves; an extended case-study, where the same participants are involved in a series of situations. These examples go some way towards showing the inherent flexibility of the case-study research design and how it can be used in a number of different ways in different environments.

The case-study has its antecedents in anthropology, sociology and psychology

(Merriam, 2009). Although it is possible for a researcher to utilize quantitative and historical data, Merriam perceives the case-study research design as being predominantly for the collection and analysis of qualitative data. She explains that “a case-study is an in- depth description and analysis of a bounded system” (p. 40) and continues by stating that it is the unit of analysis and not the topic of investigation that characterizes the case- study. Yin (2003) does not share Merriam’s view that the case-study is a predominately qualitative research design and he asserts that a case-study can include or even be limited

113 to the collection and analysis of quantitative data. This disagreement again points to the inherent flexibility of the case-study. Different researchers can view the same research design as being predominantly quantitative or qualitative, dependent upon their own preferences and experiences. This flexibility allows the case-study to be successfully applied to a broad range of situations and to utilize multiple data collection methods

(Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011). Therefore, the case-study is ideal for the purposes of this study, where the subject matter is complex, as I needed multiple qualitative data collection methods in order to gather the broad array of information required to successfully illuminate the research questions.

Yin (2003) does concur with Merriam (2009) that the unit of analysis is of primary importance in case-study research and differentiates between single-case and multiple-case designs. Yin stipulates that the single-case design can be used to study a critical case, an extreme or unique case, a typical case, a revelatory case or it can take the form of a longitudinal study. Some of these approaches to single case case-studies can also be used for studying multiple distinct cases. According to Yin, a multiple case case- study has a number of advantages and disadvantages when compared to the single case approach. Often the multiple case-studies are considered to provide more compelling types of evidence than single cases. However, it is difficult to utilize this approach for the investigation of critical or revelatory cases, as their unique nature makes it difficult to locate more than one case at any given time. Yin identifies two distinct logical underpinnings for the replications provided by multiple case case-studies: literal replication and theoretical replication. Literal replication predicts similar results in the different cases in a multiple case case-study, whereas theoretical replication predicts

114 contrasting results that occur for predictable reasons rooted in a theoretical conception of a given phenomenon. Yin advises using a multiple case case-study when possible, claiming that the chances of creating a good case-study are increased with the use of multiple cases. For this study, a multiple case approach was chosen on the theoretical grounds that the different cases would provide contrasting results, with different national/subnational contexts giving rise to variations in the lived-experiences and habitus of ECCE educators, resulting in disparate ECCE educator perceptions and praxes

(Burton, 2012; Fees, Hoover, & Zheng, 2014; Miyahara & Meyers, 2008).

In addition to choosing between single and multiple case case-studies, Yin (2003) states that the researcher can choose between holistic and embedded designs. These two elements relate to the number of sub-units of analysis utilized in both single and multiple case-study designs. The holistic model is typically used when no clear sub-units can be identified by the researcher, making the utilization of the case-study simpler in complex settings. The holistic model does risk a loss in trustworthiness because such studies can potentially lack clear measures of data. The lack of clear sub-units of analysis can also lead the focus of the study to shift during data collection. Although this can be advantageous in some instances, Yin states that “the largest criticism of case studies is based on this type of shift in which the implemented research design is no longer appropriate for the research questions being asked” (p. 45). The embedded design, in contrast, can serve as an important device for focusing a study by identifying sub-units of analysis that can provide greater insight into a given case. This can facilitate the creation of a more robust study. It can also lead the researcher to focus only upon the subunit level and not draw linkages between the sub-units and the unit of analysis (Yin, 2003).

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Single/multiple case/cases, holistic/embedded designs can be used in multiple combinations (see table 6). For this study I chose to use a multiple case embedded design case-study (see table 7), where the ECCE educator was the primary unit of analysis and the ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes were sub-units in an embedded design.

Single-Case Designs Multiple-Case Designs Holistic Context Context Context (Single Case Case Case Unit of Analysis

Context Context Case Case

Embedded Context Context Context (Multiple Case Embedded Embedded Units of Embedded Embedded Sub-unit Sub-unit Analysis) Sub-unit Sub-unit

Context Context Embedded Embedded Sub-unit Sub-unit

Figure 4. Robert Yin’s basic types of designs for case-studies. Taken from “Case Study

Research; Design and Methods,” by R. K. Yin, 2013, Sage Publishing, p. 40.

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Context Context

Case Case

Embedded Embedded Embedded Embedded

Sub-unit 1 Sub-unit 2 Sub-unit 1 Sub-unit 2

Context Context

Case Case

Embedded Embedded Embedded Embedded

Sub-unit 1 Sub-unit 2 Sub-unit 1 Sub-unit 2

Figure 5. Robert Yin’s multiple-case embedded design case-study. Taken from “Case

Study Research; Design and Methods,” by R. K. Yin, 2013, Sage Publishing, p. 40.

Research Settings

The goal of this research study was to investigate how national/subnational contexts influence the lived-experiences, habitus and perceptions of ECCE educators and how these constructs in turn influence ECCE praxis. To examine the way in which national/subnational contexts influence ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes, I conducted a multiple-case, embedded design case-study in Lebanon and

Denmark. These are two countries in which I have lived (see subjectivity-statement) and settings where I could gain access and entrée due to prior contacts. Lebanon and

Denmark are interesting countries for comparison as they share some general traits and yet are culturally very diverse. Both Lebanon and Denmark are small countries, the population of Lebanon is 5,882,562 people and the population of Denmark is 5,569,077

117 people, 25% of the Lebanese population are under the age of 14 and 17% of the Danish population are under the age of 147. Although both countries have official languages

(Arabic in Lebanon and Danish in Denmark), other languages are also strongly represented within both populations. French, English and Armenian in Lebanon, and

German, Faroese and Inuit in Denmark. Both countries are surrounded by considerably larger neighboring countries, which have strongly influenced their histories. Lebanon shares borders with Israel and Syria and is in close proximity to Turkey, Jordan and Iraq.

Denmark shares a border with Germany and is in close proximity to Poland, Sweden and

Great Britain.

Lebanon.

Although the territory which Lebanon occupies is ancient, the country itself is young. France established the state of greater Lebanon in 1920 and the country gained independence from France in 1943 (Harris, 2012; Traboulsi, 2007). The capital of

Lebanon, Beirut, stands upon the ruins of civilizations dating back 5000 years and its name stems from the Canaanite-Phoenician word be'erot (meaning wells), which refers to the underground water table from which the local inhabitants to this day get their water.

Over the years, Lebanon has been inhabited by the Ottomans, Mamlukes, the Crusaders,

Abbassids, Omayyads, Byzantines, Romans, Persians and Phoenicians, which accounts for the diversity of Lebanon’s current population (Traboulsi, 2007).

The population of Lebanon consists of 18 distinct religious sects, the principal of these being the Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Druze, Catholics, Shiites and Sunnis. In addition, there are approximately 450,000 registered Palestinian refugees and approximately 1.5 million registered Syrian refugees currently residing in Lebanon

7 Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ 118

(United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA, 20168; United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 20169). Lebanon’s population diversity has historically led to internal strife and between the years 1975 and 1990 Lebanon was in a state of civil war, with the different factions forming a number of short term alliances, which shifted throughout the course of the conflict (Traboulsi, 2007). To this day, there is little general consensus as to what occurred during this period, with each demographic group having suffered and participated in their own atrocities (Chomsky, 1999). The outcome of the civil war was that Israel, in 1982, invaded Southern Lebanon, following a three month siege of Beirut. Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon only ceased in the year 2000, after a prolonged struggle with Hezbollah (Harris, 2012). In the same period as the Israeli invasion Syria began to build up a military and political presence in

Lebanon. This presence was maintained until the time of the Cedar Revolution in 2005.

Today, Lebanon is a parliamentary democracy, which utilizes a special system of government called confessionalism that allocates political power among a country's communities proportionally, according to their percentage of the population (Harb,

2006). This has been implemented in an attempt to prevent future sectarian conflict.

Lebanon utilizes 2.6% of GDP on education, which means that Lebanon ranks 162nd in- terms of budget allocated to education. Literacy rates are 93.9% for the entire population over the age of 15, with school life expectancy being 14 years for the entire Lebanese population10 (not including the Palestinian refugees, who attend education programs funded and organized by the UNRWA). Public education in Lebanon is controlled by the

8 Retrieved from http://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/lebanon 9 Retrieved from http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122 10 Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/le.html

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Ministry of Education and Higher Education (World Bank Report, 2006). In Lebanon,

Arabic, English and French are the primary languages of instruction. English or French are the languages used for the instruction of mathematics and science in all Lebanese public schools. Education is compulsory from age 6 to age 14 (UNESCO, International

Bureau of Education, 2006).

ECCE in Lebanon is often the province of the private sector, with high-quality

ECCE being the privilege of the wealthy (Faour, 2003). Developmentally Appropriate

Practice (DAP) often serves as the basis for many ECCE programs in Lebanon. DAP stipulates that ECCE prepares children for the requirements of K-12 education by focusing upon the key academic areas of language, literacy and mathematics. DAP uses assessable standards to ensure that academic requirements are being met (National

Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), 2009). Although the kindergarten selected for this study did not use DAP explicitly, their ECCE curriculum did focus primarily upon the areas of language, literacy and mathematics. As in other countries (Hannaway, Steyn & Hartell, 2014; Pei-Wen et al. 2015), ECCE in Lebanon is viewed as a low-status profession (Faour, 2003). According to Faour “preschool teachers have a relatively low social status for they are perceived by society as being more like

‘babysitters’ than educators. Many consider it as an extension of motherhood” (p. 15).

This issue was relevant for the kindergarten used in this study, the head of the kindergarten stipulated that it was for hard for her to attract men to work in the kindergarten, because the wages were considered too low, and she preferred to employ mothers, because of their experiences caring for their own young children. Additionally, both of the Lebanese educators who participated in this study expressed the position that

120 they saw themselves primarily as surrogate mothers to the children in their care. In addition, there are no state stipulated requirements for the level of training/education an

ECCE educator must hold. A 1996 report by Bashur (courtesy of Faour) states that “the majority of the teachers from private, public and semi-private did not have a university degree and almost all of the preschool and kindergarten teachers lacked child development knowledge” (p. 16). This is a contrast to ECCE educators (or pedagogues) working in the public sector in Denmark, who are all required to complete a 3.5 years bachelor’s degree in social education in order to work in the field. This was not the case for this study, where both the participating Lebanese educators had university degrees.

In Lebanon, there are three types of ECCE institutions, private, semi-private and public (Faour, 2003). Private institutions are supported by school fees and this means that the clientele typically come from high and middle-income families. The kindergarten selected for this study was a private institution. In semi-private ECCE institutions, students who come from low income families and who do not live near a public school can enroll and the Lebanese government subsidizes the cost of half the tuition. As of

2001, there were 2677 ECCE institutions in Lebanon; half of which (49.5%) were public and over a third (36.3%) were private. The remaining 14% of the schools were semi- private. Religious institutions comprised 28% of the private and semiprivate schools.

50.5% of all children enrolled in ECCE programs were enrolled in private ECCE institutions, while the public ECCE centers accounted for 37.9% of enrollments (Faour,

2003).

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Denmark.

Denmark is a country that is part of the region known as Scandinavia, situated in

Northern Europe. Denmark is the oldest monarchy in the world, with the current Danish

Queen Margrethe II being able to trace her line of succession back to roughly 936 AD, with the ascension of King Gorm the Old. An important historical period for the evolution of the current Danish education system began in the late 1700s, when the population and economy of Denmark was growing rapidly (Bonderup, 2014). This period of growth ended during Napoleonic wars (1803 – 1815) due to a number of military defeats, leading Denmark to secede territory to its larger neighbors, Sweden, Poland and

Germany. Following this time of crisis came a period of national consolidation, with a strong focus upon the maintenance of Danish values and culture. Education became a tool through which Danish culture and democracy could be maintained and transmitted. A key figure in this period was the pastor, poet and philosopher Nicolai Frederik Severin

Grundtvig (1783-1872). One of his lasting contributions was the creation of the folkehøjskole (people’s high-school). The primary aim of these schools was to encourage life-long-learning in the Danish population. In these institutions, members of the Danish society from all social classes could meet and exchange ideas (Harbsmeier, 201611). This egalitarian view of education has had a powerful influence on the shape of education in

Denmark up until the present day.

Today, Denmark spends 8.7% of GDP on education, one of the highest expenditures in the world. Compulsory education in Denmark begins at the age of 7 and takes place in the folkeskole (the people’s school), lasting nine years. Each class has its

11 Retrieved from http://www.grundtvig.dk/grundtvig-i-danmark/folkeoplysning-og- bevaegelser/hoejskoler.html

122 own permanent class teacher, who follows the class for at least six years (National Center on Education and the Economy, 2006). This is perceived to improve the pupils learning.

Classes are of mixed ability throughout the course of folkeskole and it is against the law for schools to assess and stream students for instructional purposes based upon their ability. A folkeskole is run by the local municipality and the Ministry of Education is responsible for setting the curriculum framework and exams. Following the end of folkeskole, students can choose to pursue an academic trajectory and attend gymnasium or they can attend technical and business college. Both these institutions can give access to higher-education and are free for all students to attend. Higher education in Denmark is divided into three levels: short cycle higher education at the non-university level; medium-cycle education at the non-university level (three or four years), medium cycle education at the university level (3-year BA and Bsc programs), and long cycle education at the university (3 year bachelor program plus 2 years Master’s program). All such programs are free for Danish citizens up to and including Master’s level education, and, in addition, students are provided with a grant to pay for their living expenses (NCEE,

2006).

ECCE (dagtilbud) is offered for children 9 months to 7 years under the Social

Services Act (The Ministry of Social Affairs, 2000). In Denmark ECCE is divided into two separate types of programs (often housed in the same building), vuggestue (crèche) for children of 9 months- to 2 years of age, and børnehave (kindergarten) for children 3 to 6 years of age. ECCE in Denmark is not free for Danish children, but it is subsidized by the state. The coverage rate for children aged 9 months-2 years is 64% and for children aged 3-6 years it is 91% (The Ministry of Social Affairs, 2000). To work as an

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ECCE educator in Denmark requires a 3.5 years bachelor’s degree in social education12.

By law, ECCE educators are obliged to work in conjunction with the child’s family to provide care and support for their development.

Social learning is considered to be the primary focus of ECCE education, with little or no academic learning taking place in the context of the ECCE centers. To ensure that high-quality ECCE takes place in every ECCE institute, Danish educators must utilize a national curriculum. The national curriculum is based upon the use of a number of yearly themes that include: personal development (alsidig personlig udvikling), social capabilities (sociale kompetencer), language development (sproglig udvikling), body and movement (krop og bevægelse), nature and natural phenomenon (naturen og naturfænomener), and cultural values (kulturelle udtryksformer og værdier)13. Each theme stipulates a number of developmental areas that act as the focus of the ECCE educators’ praxes. For example, under the rubric alsidig personlig udvikling the curriculum stipulates that children in ECCE institutions should learn to have positive interactions with adults, to understand their own emotions and limitations and to develop a clear awareness of self within a social context. Themes are not mutually exclusive and material from other themes can be used during the course of the year, but each institution chooses a primary theme to guide praxis each year. These themes also served as the theoretical foundation for praxis at the kindergarten utilized in this study.

Denmark has a long tradition of private education (friskoler) because Danish law stipulates that the state has an obligation to teach all children, but not to dictate the types

12 Retrieved from: https://ucc.dk/files/bekendtgoerelse_om_uddannelsen_til_professionsbachelor_som_paedagog_- _retsinformation_dk.pdf) 13 Retrieved from: http://www.bupl.dk/iwfile/BALG-7W7HLE/$file/Dagtilbudsloven_09.pdf 124 of schools provided. Currently, approximately 70% of all ECCE institutions are municipal ECCE programs (kommunale daginstitutioner); these facilities must comply with the general rules of the local government (the Ministry of Social Affairs, 2000).

Independent ECCE institutions (selvejende daginstitutioner), which make up approximately 30% of the all Danish ECCE institutions, are independent legal entities that are governed by a board and operated on the basis of a charter or statutes.

Independent day-care facilities are also beholden to agreements with the local authority in regards to their operation. The local authority finances all operating costs, with the provision that the ECCE institution makes places available to the local authority. The kindergarten utilized in this study falls into this category of independent ECCE institutions.

Research Sites and Participants

The unit of analysis for this study is the ECCE educator, with their lived- experiences, perceptions and praxis functioning as sub-units of analysis in this embedded-design (Yin, 2003). Two ECCE educators served as the case in each country.

Both ECCE educators in each country were drawn from the same ECCE institute.

Drawing both cases from the same institution ensured the internal consistency of levels of

ECCE training and the theoretical conceptions of the ECCE instructors in each country.

The internal consistency of theoretical conceptions was assured due to the role that dialogue plays in the daily running of ECCE institutes (Erbrahim, 2015). Practitioners are necessitated to communicate with their colleagues and theoretical alignment is a natural consequence of professional dialogue. In addition, drawing both cases from the same institution allowed me to explore subtle onsite variations of ECCE educators’

125 perceptions, rooted in individual lived-experiences. This meant that the ECCE institutions utilized in this program had to be large enough to have at least two trained ECCE educators who would be willing and able to participate in this study based upon the criteria of inclusion.

Criteria for Inclusion

To maximize the information-richness of the data collected in this study research sites were purposefully sampled (Merriam, 2009). Merriam defines information-rich cases as “those from which one can learn a great deal about issues of central importance to the purpose of enquiry” (p.78). Merriam lists five distinct variations of the purposeful sample: typical, unique, maximum variation, convenience, and chain sampling. Although convenience also played an important role in this purposeful sample (for example in

Lebanon, where public transport is infrequent, the proximity of the site was important), a priori criteria were used to help ensure that the sites selected represented typical, information rich cases. Typicality in this study was defined around the following key concepts: the presence of trained ECCE personnel, the use of an established ECCE curriculum, and the serving of children between the ages of 3-5 years of age. The use of typical samples allowed the research to “establish particular comparisons to illuminate the reasons for differences between settings or individuals” (Maxwell, 2013, p. 98). The posited effects of national/subnational culture upon the lived-experiences were thought to be best illuminated if the research sites are typical to their national/subnational contexts.

This does not mean that the two sites should resemble each other, but that they should be typical of the countries from which they arise.

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In Lebanon, site selection was coordinated with the assistance of staff from the

Lebanese American University’s (LAU) education department14. In Denmark site selection was coordinated with the assistance of staff from my former university,

University College of Copenhagen (UCC), Nordsjælland Campus15. To facilitate access, the sites in both countries were situated in and around the capital cities. Of primary importance in the selection of a suitable ECCE institute in Lebanon was language. I do not speak Arabic or French, so for research to be conducted without the constant presence of an interpreter, the language of instruction and communication had to be English. This also meant that the ECCE instructors who participated in the study had to have a level of

English proficiency that allowed them to converse fluently on the nature of their lived- experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes. The best way to ensure this level of fluency was for the ECCE educators themselves to have been educated in English, as both

Mariam and Leila were. In Denmark language was not a hindrance, as Danish is my mother-tongue and I have extensive experience working in ECCE environments and corresponding with other ECCE educators there.

In addition, the institutions utilized in this study had to employ trained ECCE educators. This is because the study is interested in how lived-experiences and habitus influence the perceptions and praxes of trained ECCE educators. In Lebanon, this was a particularly important criterion because there are no mandated qualifications for people working in this field and no state sanctioned curricula (Faour, 2003). In Denmark, this was not an issue, because to become a professional ECCE educator requires a 3.5 years bachelor’s degree. ECCE educators who had only received in-service training would not

14 Retrieved from http://www.lau.edu.lb/about/ 15 Retrieved from https://ucc.dk/paedagoguddannelsen/uddannelsessteder/campus-nordsjaelland 127 have been selected for this study. Excluding certain ECCE educators from participating in this study based upon their lack of preservice training may have excluded individuals whose contributions could potentially have been of value to this study, but these selections were made with the understanding that “one cannot study everyone everywhere doing everything, even within a single case” (Maxwell, 2013, p. 96). By selecting based upon pre-service training, I ensured that ECCE participants had some theoretical understanding of ECD and ECCE and I was able to explore their perceptions of these theories during the interviews.

Additionally, to the criteria listed above, the institutions selected in both countries had to utilize a recognizable ECCE curriculum as the basis of their coordinated institutional praxis. This was done to help facilitate the document analysis and allow the personal perceptions of the curriculum to be examined and compared to the lived- experiences of the ECCE educators. In the Danish institutions the curriculum is mandated by the state16. In Lebanon the curriculum utilized a mixture of British English and

American English educational resources along with requirements rooted in the

Brevet/Baccalaureate based national curriculums. The institutions both served children between 3-5 years of age. The institutions selected had to provide services that extended throughout the day, so as to ensure that both children and ECCE educators were immersed in ECCE experience for a full day.

16 Retrieved from: http://www.bupl.dk/iwfile/BALG-7W7HLE/$file/Dagtilbudsloven_09.pdf

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Section 3

Data Collection Methods

Table 6

Table of Data Collection Methods

Research Question Data Collection Methods Timeframe What are two Danish and two In depth Phenomenological 3 Weeks per Participant Lebanese educators’ lived Interviews 6 Weeks per Institute experiences and habitus? Document Analysis

How are the ECCE educators’ In depth Phenomenological 3 Weeks per Participant lived experiences and habitus Interviews 6 Weeks per Institute similar and different to each Document Analysis other?

What are the ECCE educators’ In depth Phenomenological 3 Weeks per Participant perceptions of ECD and ECCE? Interviews 3 Weeks per Participant What are there praxes? Guided Observations

How are the ECCE educators’ In depth Phenomenological 3 Weeks per Participant perceptions of ECD and ECCE Interviews 3 Weeks per Participant similar and different to each Guided Observations other?

How do these perceptions In depth Phenomenological 3 Weeks per Participant influence individual praxis? Interviews 3 Weeks per Participant Guided Observations

Data collection is often considered to be the central focus of research (Yin, 2013).

Yin stipulates that in order to carry out successful case-study research, preparation and the acquisition of appropriate skills on the part of the researcher are vital. According to

Yin, only a well trained and experienced researcher is capable of taking advantage of the multiple unexpected opportunities that arise in case-study research. Yin lists key researcher attributes as the ability to ask good questions, to be a good listener, to be adaptive and flexible, thoroughly understand the issues which are being studied, and be

129 unbiased by preconceived notions. I endeavored to exhibit these attributes during data collection, striking a balance between the use of a priori research protocols, which helped guide the data collection process (Merriam, 2009), with a flexible application of these protocols to ensure that they could also be adapted in lieu of new information that may arise during data collection (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011). Such an approach was chosen in recognition of the fact that “the social and educational world is a messy place, full of contradictions, richness, complexity, connectedness, conjunctions and disjunctions” (p. 219). I began my data collection in Lebanon. I am very familiar with

ECCE praxis in Denmark (see subjectivity statement) and I felt that it was more likely that I had unexamined biases and preconceptions about the nature of ECCE in Denmark.

The experience of data collection in Lebanon thereby helped to inform and guide my data collection in Denmark, reducing the effects of researcher bias.

Data collection at each site took a total of 6 weeks, 3 weeks per ECCE classroom.

After 1-2 days of initial ECCE institutional observations, I began my observations of the first classroom. At the end of the first week of observations, allowing for the teachers’ schedules, the first interview was conducted. Completing a week of observations prior to the first interview allowed me the time to adapt to the new environment and also facilitate the development of trust between myself and the participants and assisted me in the collection of rich data, increasing the trustworthiness of this study (Merriam, 2009). Each week followed the basic pattern of observations/participant observations during the week, with an in-depth interview at the end of each week, until three weeks had passed. At that point, I moved to a new classroom and the process began again.

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Interviews.

The interview is a methodological vehicle that allows for the collection of data that enables multi-sensory modes to be utilized, namely verbal, non-verbal, spoken and auditory (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011). Interviewing is one of the preeminent research methods used in qualitative research and there are multiple approaches to this particular method (Merriam, 2009; Yin, 2013). Merriam stipulates that qualitative researchers can establish their primary approach to interviewing by either considering their philosophic/disciplinary orientations (neo-positivist, romantic, constructivist, postmodern, transformative and de-colonizing) or the interview structure that they wish to employ (highly structured/standardized, semi-structured and unstructured/informal).

The philosophic orientation of this study perhaps most closely aligns itself with

Merriam’s notion of decolonization, in that its concern is with “restorative justice for indigenous peoples…a key to…de-colonizing…is to privilege an indigenous research agenda that involves the processes of decolonization, transformation, mobilization, and healing” (p. 92). However, the interviews that were conducted for this study were more closely aligned with Merriam’s notion of the romantic interview, where the researcher makes no claims as to being objective, but rather analyzes and reveals subjectivities through a conversational style of interviewing. This orientation was selected because I believe that the most constructive way to privilege an indigenous research agenda is to faithfully document the lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes of the participants and not assume that I as the researcher have a more objective view of the field of ECCE than the participant.

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Seidman (2006) stated that in-depth qualitative interviewing focuses upon the telling of stories, where “telling stories is essentially a meaning-making process. When people tell stories, they select details of their experience from their stream of consciousness…Every word that people use in telling their stories is a microcosm of their consciousness” (p. 7). Such an approach was well suited to the exploration of the lived- experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators, in different national contexts. Seidman posits that to achieve such an exploration of the individual consciousness, three rounds of interviews are needed, with each dialogue building upon information from the previous interview. The first interview focuses upon the life history of the research participant, in light of the focus of the study. The second interview concentrates upon the concrete details of the participant’s lived-experiences and perceptions in the context of their everyday experiences in the ECCE center. In the final interview, the research participant is asked to reflect upon the meaning of the intellectual and emotional connections between the participant’s life and work.

Seidman (2006) accepts that the specific requirements of individual research may necessitate some deviations from the content of each interview and stipulates that his approach is flexible enough, as long as the fundamental structure is respected, to accommodate different approaches. Although I stayed close to Seidman’s conceptions, the content of the three interviews was also influenced by my conceptual framework (see chapter 2), as seen in my interview protocol (see appendix B). The first interview, in addition to focusing upon the participant’s life history, also focused upon the national/subnational context in which the participant’s lived-experiences took place; the second interview examined the ECCE educator’s habitus (formed upon the basis of their

132 lived-experiences) and its influence upon the participants’ perceptions; the final interview asked the participants to reflect upon their perceptions of ECD and ECCE praxis and to explore how they feel their perceptions influence their interactions with the children in their care.

Seidman (2006) stipulates that each interview should last approximately 90 minutes. This, he asserts, is the amount of time required for the participant to engage with the nature and contents of the interview, with “an hour… [carrying] with it the consciousness of a standard unit of time that can have participants “watching the clock”.

Two hours seems too long to sit at one time” (p. 20). The interviews conducted in this study varied in length, between 1-2 hours, dependent upon how quickly the participants answered the questions in the interview protocols. Seidman recommends spacing the three interviews out to allow the research participants to reflect upon the outcome of the previous interview. This also allows the researcher time to adopt new themes on the basis of the outcomes of the previous interviews, letting the researcher tailor the form of each interview to the specific requirements of each participant while keeping the overarching themes guiding the research study in mind. Between each interview there was an approximately 1week lapse, although on occasions, due to the requirements of the ECCE educators’ schedules, this lapse was a little shorter

For this study, I developed a semi-structured interview protocol (see appendix B) that served as the foundation for the interviews in both countries (the questions were translated into Danish by me). Qualitative interviews allow the interviewer the flexibility to probe more deeply into areas of interest (Merriam, 2009). Merriam states that “this is where being the primary instrument of data collection has its advantages…you make

133 adjustments in your interviewing as you go along” (pp. 100-101). All the interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Interviews in Lebanon were conducted in English.

The interviews carried out in Denmark were conducted in Danish, then transcribed in

Danish and finally translated into English by me. My first degree was in Scandinavian

Studies (see subjectivity statement), where I majored in translation from Danish to

English and therefore I was qualified to carry out this task myself.

Observations.

A key advantage to utilizing observational data is that observations take place in the setting where the phenomenon of interest naturally occurs, allowing the researcher to experience the occurrence first-hand. According to Merriam (2009), observation becomes a research method when it systematically targets a particular phenomenon. What is of key importance is to determine what is to be observed. Yin (2013) states that research observations exist on a spectrum from casual, unguided observations, to formal observations guided by a priori observation protocols. Yin stipulates that participant- observation is characterized by the fact that the researcher is not merely a passive observer, but actively participates in the phenomenon of study. I utilized participant- observation, along with observations to collect data for this study (Merriam, 2009).

Participant-observation was used because it provides the researcher with the opportunity to “perceive reality from the viewpoint of someone “inside” the case-study rather than external to it” (Yin, 2013, p. 94). This can lead to a more accurate portrayal of the case- study phenomenon under observation. I am a trained ECCE educator with many years of experience in the field, working in multiple different countries worldwide. These experiences allowed me to participate successfully in ECCE education at both sites,

134 although the ways in which I participated varied at both sites, due to their differing approaches to ECCE.

Participant-observation also helps to normalize the presence of the researcher for the research participants, letting them become accustomed to the researcher’s presence and thereby potentially providing more information-rich data (Yin, 2003). In participant- observation, it can be difficult to strike a balance between the requirements of the research and the influence the researcher has on the phenomena he is observing. By participating in activities the researcher can potentially risk altering the nature of the practices that he is observing (Merriam, 2009). To negotiate this tension I mixed observation, where I sat in the ECCE classroom, observed and took notes, with participant-observation, where I participated in the daily life in the ECCE center and recorded observations as soon as my participation was complete. Every day in the observation protocol I recorded what type of observation was conducted on that particular day. I avoided a mechanistic approach to deciding when to adopt a particular method; such an approach could have reduced the flexibility of my data collection methods and could have led to potentially important observations or experiences being missed.

Instead, I ensured that at least 30% of the time was spent using each method. This approach helped to minimize the risks associated with each individual method, while still being flexible enough to take advantage of the multiple unexpected opportunities that arose during my data collection (Yin, 2013).

Both the participant-observations and the observations were guided by a priori observation protocols (see appendix C). Important emerging themes uncovered during data collection could have been added to the observation protocol during data collection

135 if necessary. The primary goal of this study was to explore the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators and the interviews played a determining role in illuminating these constructs. Observational data was primarily used to support or contradict the data collected in the semi-structured interviews and to provide information on how the lived-experiences, habitus and perceptions of ECCE educators influenced praxis. All observations were recorded using the Evernote program. This cross-platform note taking application allows the user to take notes on a smartphone, tablet and personal computer that can be instantly synced with a cloud account. This flexibility means that notes can be taken quickly and easily, embedding photographs and audio recordings as needed, without fear of losing files if a particular platform is lost. Files are stored in an encrypted form that only I can access. Not even the Evernote Company can access these files17.

In addition to recording the observations, I also kept a daily reflexivity journal where I documented my own thoughts and feelings about the research process and my own perceived positionality in relationship to the research (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison,

2011). Researchers who utilize journal writing as a part of their data collection “benefit from an enhanced awareness of themselves as people and as professionals, an awareness which makes for more informed professional decision making” (Borg, 2001, p. 157). The journal entries were used to explore important issues, such as researcher positionality, throughout the data collection period. The reflexivity journal was considered to be part of the analytic process and was not considered to be a data source. The journals were also recorded with the Evernote program. The reflexivity journal was used in conjunction with

17 Retrieved from: https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208314128-What-type-of-encryption-does-Evernote-use-

136 my positionality statement during the data analysis to help minimize the impact of my own research biases.

Documents.

The use of document analysis in qualitative research has some distinct advantages over both observations and interviews. The presence of documents does not intrude upon or alter the settings which the researcher is investigating, they do not rely upon the cooperation of the research participants, and they are a ready-made source of information that can provide different perspectives on the research matter at hand (Merriam, 2009). In the context of this study the term document was used as an umbrella term to account for a number of different materials, including written texts, as well as physical artifacts, such as toys and other ECCE equipment. Of primary interest for this study were curricular materials (such as syllabi or theoretical materials that inform praxis), used at the two

ECCE institutions. National research created in field of ECCE was also collected.

Additionally, nationally stipulated ECCE documents, such as ECCE curriculum materials, were also be collected. These documents provided contextual information about the national/subnational discourse on the subject of ECCE and provided information about the environment which has shaped the professional lived-experiences of the ECCE educators and their daily perceptions of ECCE. Equipment, toys and electronic devices used within the context of the ECCE classroom were also be documented (via observations and photographs) and analyzed. The documents were identified throughout the course of the six weeks spent at each site, through the informal interactions with staff, and through the observations and interviews.

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Photographs and drawings.

Photographs were taken of all the ECCE classrooms. The photographs provided information on how the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators help shape the ECCE environment and thereby the experiences of the children.

Each classroom/institution was photographed, as well as the outdoor spaces and other areas that the children in the institutions frequented. All pictures were taken with the camera of my IPhone. The photographs were stored in a file on my Google Drive. No humans were photographed for this study. Due to the fact that no pictures of the children or educators were taken, I utilized the drawing function in the Evernote program to sketch out particularly interesting classroom scenes.

Triangulation of Data

Using multiple data sources is one of the key characteristics of the case-study

(Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011; Yin, 2013). Multiple sources of data allow for what is known as data-triangulation (Merriam 2009). This is done to increase the trustworthiness of qualitative research, by reducing the risk that conclusions drawn from a study merely reflect the biases of a single method of data collection. In addition, data- triangulation can provide information about different portions of the phenomenon under investigation, adding nuance to the researcher’s analysis. Denzin (1978) stated that

“sociology’s empirical reality is a reality of competing definitions and attitudes and personal values…each sociological method and…sociologist generate different lines of action towards…[an] object” (p. 294). In this way, data triangulation ensures more robust and trustworthy analysis because it is not confined by the nature of one mode of data collection. It ensures that emerging themes must be present in multiple data sets to be

138 considered pertinent. In this study, data-triangulation through the use of observations, interviews and document analysis, helped to increase the overall trustworthiness of this study.

Data Management and Analysis

Qualitative data analysis involves “organizing, accounting for and explaining data” (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011), where the researcher identifies patterns, categories and themes. Merriam (2009) describes case-study analysis as being characterized by being particularistic, descriptive and heuristic. It is particularistic in that it focuses on a specific situation, phenomenon, program or event, in this case the lived- experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of ECCE educators. It is descriptive, in that it produces a thick description of the phenomenon under study. According to Merriam a thick description is a complete, literal description of the phenomenon under investigation.

The case-study includes a multitude of variables and attempts to portray their interactions through this thick description. The hermeneutic portion of case-study analysis allows the reader to gain new personal insights into the interrelationship of variables, with “insights into how things get to be the way they are can be expected to result from case studies” (p.

44). The goal of the data analysis for this study was to provide the reader with insight into the research questions through the thick description of the participants’ lived-experiences and perceptions, juxtaposed with observations of their praxes and information drawn from document analysis. The thick descriptions are compared and contrasted to each other, both in-country and cross-nationally.

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Thematic coding.

The case-study is a flexible research design that can be used to collect a broad range of data and this flexibility means that those carrying out a case-study may need to do a broad range of data analyses (Merriam, 2009). A key method of qualitative data analysis is known as thematic analysis (Aronson, 1995). Aronson notes that a primary step in carrying out a thematic analysis is the listing of patterns of experience from transcribed interviews, field notes of observations or researcher journaling. This is often known as coding and is a cornerstone of qualitative data-analysis (Miles & Huberman,

1994). According to Miles and Huberman “coding is analysis. To review a set of field notes, transcribed or synthesized, and to dissect them meaningfully, while keeping the relations between the parts intact, is the stuff of analysis” (p. 56). The coding process begins at the first reading of the first transcript or field note by the researcher (Merriam,

2009), with the researcher making notes and queries in the documents. As this process continues, more clearly defined patterns emerge and codes are applied to chunks of data, and this in turn becomes the basis for drawing conclusions (Miles and Huberman, 1994).

Although this is not a technically complicated procedure, it is adaptable enough to be used with a broad range of qualitative data (Merriam).

Due to the quantity of data that I collected, thematic coding played an important role in managing and organizing all the information that I gathered. My analysis strategy stemmed from my research questions and the theoretical/conceptual framework (Yin,

2013) that guides this study. I used both a priori and emerging themes to analyze the data collected, although the a priori themes were given special prominence, as they relate directly to my research questions. The a priori categories stemmed from my research

140 questions: lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions of ECD, perceptions of ECCE and praxis. These themes served as the basis for my cross-national comparison. All data was analyzed and organized with these key themes in mind. In addition, as my analysis progressed, more comparable in-situ themes emerged from the ongoing coding of the data. These in-situ themes were discovered through the use of open, axial and selective coding (Merriam, 2009). Open coding is the preliminary labeling of any unit of data.

Axial coding is the process of relating categories and properties to each other, thereby refining and reducing the number of codes used. Selective coding develops core categories, propositions and hypotheses. Analysis was conducted both during the data collection period and upon completion of the data collection. Coding informed the data collection in a spiral fashion, with themes arising in the coding potentially being added to the research protocols in order to enhance the richness of the data collected (Creswell,

2014). Data was analyzed within case and across case. The spiral nature of my data analysis ensured that initial data analysis was primarily in case (Creswell, 2014). Upon the completion of my data collection and the initial coding of each individual case I began to conduct my cross-case and cross-national analysis. The completed transcriptions were printed out and coded by hand. The first time the interviews were read, notations of emerging issues were made. For the second read through I utilized colored highlighters for the different a priori themes. For the third read through data chunks were notated in a separate document under the appropriate a priori or in-situ theme headings. Dominant sub-themes were identified through use of this document and the themes and sub-themes served as the foundation for chapter 4.

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Section 4

Trustworthiness and Validity of Data

Researchers are always concerned with creating trustworthy studies, as information from research studies may be taken by practitioners and applied to the real world (Merriam, 2009). Increasing the validity of research increases its trustworthiness

(Cohen et al., 2011). Definitions of validity vary between quantitative and qualitative research (Cohen et al., 2011; Merriam, 2009), and even within the field of qualitative research, there are a number of distinct interpretations. There is consensus that both internal and external validity are important in qualitative research (Cohen et al., 2011;

Merriam, 2009; Yin, 2003). Merriam defines internal validity as attempting to answer the question of how closely research findings match reality. In qualitative research, there is an assumption that the reality which qualitative data is being compared to is always holistic, multi-dimensional and constantly shifting. Therefore, the internal validity of a study is viewed as a goal rather than an axiomatic fact.

In an attempt to meet the complex and shifting requirements of internal validity,

Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2011) stipulate five potential strategies that the researcher can adopt: using low-inference descriptors (researcher records observations in concrete terms, e.g. using verbatim accounts of what people say), using multiple researchers, using participant researchers (e.g. through participant observation), using peer examination of data and using mechanical means to record, store and retrieve data. For this study, I used low-inference descriptors of observations, particularly when I was carrying out structured observations for my observer participations in the ECCE classrooms. Data was recorded mechanically through the use of observation protocols, recorded and transcribed

142 interviews, research sketches of classroom scenes and photographs taken of classroom facilities. Participant observations were conducted. Multiple researchers could not be used for this study as I was working alone. However, member checking was conducted with all the research participants, by providing the participants with transcripts of their interviews for feedback. Merriam (2009) stipulates that member checking “is the single most important way of ruling out the possibility of misrepresenting the meaning of what participants say or do” (p. 217) and therefore it was an important component of this study to increase its internal validity.

External validity is concerned with the extent to which qualitative research can be applied to other similar settings. As with internal validity, there are a number of interpretations as to how external validity should be interpreted. For the case-study, Yin

(2003) states that analytic generalizations are possible. With an analytic generalization the researcher is trying to extrapolate research results to a broader theory within the field.

Cohen et al. (2011) stipulated four threats to external validity: selection effects (where the constructs selected are only applicable to one group), setting effects (where the results are primarily a function of their context), history effects (where situations have been arrived at through unique historical circumstances) and construct effects (where the constructs used are only applicable to a specific group). There is always a danger with purposeful selection that the data collected is only applicable to one group. In this study, I endeavored to diminish the influence of selection effects by utilizing a priori selection criteria, to ensure that the sites selected represent typical cases. Setting and history effects arose when I was comparing the two national settings. This does not threaten the external validity of this study however, as it was the stipulated goal of this research to point to the

143 unique and particular effects of settings, history and constructs within the field of ECCE.

There were certain themes that were comparable in both national contexts, but this study was also interested in what is unique and particular to each setting.

Ethical Considerations, the Internal Review Board and Informed Consent

The trustworthiness of research is also linked to the ethical stance of the researcher (Merriam, 2009). In the social sciences the researcher has to balance the oppositional requirements of conducting scientific research and the rights and values of the research participants (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011). Miles and Huberman

(1994) suggested five general theories of ethics in qualitative research: teleological, utilitarian, deontological, Critical Theory and covenantal. For this study I will adopt a

Critical Theory ethical stance. Although participants will not directly benefit from the research in any material sense, one of the goals of this research is to pay witness to the lived-experiences of the participants (van Manen, 1990). The participants will have the opportunity to explore and share their experiences in the field of ECCE and by doing so contribute to the field of international/global ECCE research.

Despite the numerous perspectives on ethics in qualitative research, there are still a number of established practices that help the qualitative researcher ensure that their study does not inflict unnecessary harm onto its participants and thereby aid them in balancing the complex requirements of research (Merriam, 2009; Miles & Huberman

1994; Weis, 1972). Weis postulates that the most important principle a researcher must follow is honesty. The researcher must be upfront with participants about the nature and purpose of research and not seek to obfuscate important issues.

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The research that was carried out for this doctoral dissertation, according to the

GWU Internal Review Board (IRB), qualified as human subject research. The activities that I carried out for this study constituted a systematic investigation, with at least 4 human subjects, and the procedures I conducted involved data collection and analysis, making this study subject to GWU IRB approval. The GWU IRB approves, monitors, and reviews behavioral research that involves human subjects. The purpose of GWU IRB is to assure that fitting steps are taken to protect the research participants from harm. Due to the international focus of this study, I also had to follow the IRB protocols that are used in Denmark and Lebanon. Both Denmark and Lebanon use the same IRB protocols as

GWU.

As a student of GWU I was obliged to garner consent from the research sites before IRB approval can be given. To garner site participation I sent an introductory letter to the prospective ECCE institutions in Lebanon and Denmark (see appendix A).

This introductory letter provided a general overview of the goals and methods that guide this study. Following site approval, the GWU IRB reviewed my research proposal to ensure that it lives up to the ethical standards required of behavioral science research (see ethics, chapter 3). Upon receiving GWU IRB approval, prior to the start of data collection, the prospective research participants were presented with an informed consent form (see Appendix A), in which the data collection process and potential for harm and risk were outlined. Before data collection could commence the participants had to sign the informed consent form. Participants were clearly informed of their right to leave the study at any juncture and were all assured of their anonymity.

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Included in the informed consent form was a description of the potential discomforts and risks involved in research and a description of potential benefits.

Openness about such issues is as much for the benefit of the researcher as for the participants, because weak consent normally leads to poor data, with participants attempting to protect themselves from the researcher’s inquiries due to mistrust of the researcher’s intentions (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The participants were invited to review interview transcripts to provide feedback on their accuracy after transcription was completed. This corresponds to what Merriam terms member-checking.

A respect for the confidentiality and anonymity of research participants is of paramount importance when conducting qualitative research (Cohen et al., 2011).

Qualitative research focuses upon how people interpret their experiences and surroundings and these interpretations are potentially quite personal. Therefore, research participants can wish that they are not propagated or that they are not personally linked with these interpretations. In extreme cases, the propagation of personal information can be dangerous for the research participants, therefore the identities of all the participants in this research study will be concealed (Cohen et al., 2011).

Pseudonyms in the form of fake names were provided, and these will be kept secret from everyone not directly involved in the research. Researcher discretion was exercised in instances where information provided by participants was deemed as potentially harmful, such as compromising information about colleagues or the work- place. In addition, all data was stored in an encrypted form on the internet. This was achieved by only using a password protected laptop, IPhone and IPad, together with

Evernote and Google Drive to store research data. Evernote encrypts all documents on

146 the internet so that even the host company cannot access it18. Google Drive employs a number of security measures to ensure the security of data stored there19. All data files will be erased after 5 years.

Harm and Risk

Notions of harm and risk in qualitative research arise from ethical considerations

(Miles & Huberman, 1994). Harm relates to how a study can potentially injure the research participants and risk relates to the probability that harm will occur. Harm to participants can come in many forms, from hurting participants’ self-esteem, to putting their lives in danger. According to Miles and Huberman (1994), it is best for the researcher to expect some harm to occur during research, the goal of the researcher is to reduce risk. The subject matter of this study is such that no specific harm could be identified ahead of data collection. That said, the dynamic nature of qualitative research, and particularly in-depth interviews, are such that harm can have potentially occurred. To avoid such an eventuality I attempted to ensure that the participants were aware that they could leave the study at any juncture, that their identities were obfuscated, data was safely stored and not made public, and that sensitive details were omitted from the final study if needed.

Limitations

This is an exploratory study that identifies variations and similarities in ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes in two different national contexts. The exploratory nature, small sample size and limited external validity of the research design mean that the potential for transferability of data to other similar contexts

18 Retrieved from https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208314128-What-type-of-encryption-does-Evernote-use- 19 Retrieved from https://www.sookasa.com/resources/is-google-drive-secure/

147 is reduced. However, this study provides rich and in-depth context specific information about the two cases that should be comprehensible to others working in the field of global

ECCE.

The use of purposeful sampling, to gain access to data-rich research sites

(Merriam, 2009), means that the two sites cannot be considered representative of their host countries. ECCE is a complex field (Izu, 2006) and within each host country there are a broad range of theories, praxes and types of ECCE institutions. This study is not capable of documenting the dynamic and eclectic nature of these fields, even though the criteria used for selecting useable research sites are designed to locate typical cases

(Merriam, 2009). The primary focus of this research was to explore the implications of national culture in the formation of ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes.

The field of Critical Theory provides a valuable lens through which a researcher can evaluate freedom, justice, and happiness in societies. However, the field has also been described as being normative. Critical Theory claims that all knowledge is historical and yet it posits that an ahistorical basis for critique is possible (Larsen & Wright, 1993).

Although it was my stipulated goal to use the analysis of the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxis of ECCE educators to critique and rupture established ECD/ECCE theories (Foucault, 1980), I am a product of the same Western culture and educational system that I am attempting to critique. Although I used my subjectivity statement and reflection journal as tools to unmask my own biases, the habitual nature of my preconceptions about the field of ECCE could potentially weaken the trustworthiness of this study.

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Chapter 4: Findings

Introduction

In this chapter I look at the data collected for this study in depth. The cases are examined in the chronological order in which they were collected. First the Lebanese

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) institution is introduced; background information is provided about the institution, including information about the history of the institution, the facilities, the number of children, the academic content, the teaching materials, and the teaching assessments. Then I present my examination of the first

Lebanese case. Data relating to the five a priori themes (Lived-experiences, Praxis,

Perceptions of Early Childhood Development [ECD], Perceptions of ECCE and Habitus) is presented, followed by data relating to any emerging themes. Next this procedure is repeated for the second Lebanese case. I then compare and contrast data from the first two cases. This procedure is repeated for the Danish institution and the two Danish cases.

The cross-national comparison, where I compare and analyze the data of the Lebanese and Danish participants will be conducted in chapter 5. Observations are written in an italicized font so as to distinguish them from quotations taken from the interview transcripts. Quotations that are taken from the start of a sentence are capitalized and quotations that begin mid-sentence use ellipsis marks and brackets around the first letter to illustrate this fact. The presentation and analysis of data in chapters 4 and 5 answers my research questions:

What are the professional lived-experiences and habitus of two Danish and two

Lebanese educators?

 How are these ECCE educators’ lived-experiences and habitus similar to

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and different from each other?

What are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE and what are their

praxes?

 How do the educators’ habitus influence their perceptions?

 How are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE similar to

and different from each other?

 How do perceptions influence individual praxis?

A note on the chronology of analytic contents.

As previously noted, this study makes use of Pierre Bourdieu’s (1994) theoretical concept of habitus. Bourdieu (1984, 1993) equates the notion of habitus with that of individual taste and he stipulates that it functions as a cohesive and coherent synthesis of the individual’s lived-experiences. Bourdieu views individual taste as being intrinsic to all social actions. It is important to note that the individual’s habitus is typically unconscious, as habitus is the natural result of the individual’s cumulative experiences. I have operationalized the concept of habitus as one of my theoretical constructs (see chapter 2) and sought to explore the habitus of the four ECCE educators in this study. In my theoretical framework I posit that the habitus is formed by the individual’s lived- experiences and in turn directly influences the perceptions and praxes of the ECCE educator. Throughout this document, when presenting the core theoretical constructs of this study, I ordered them thus, but in this presentation of my data I have chosen to focus upon data pertaining to the educators’ habitus last. I have chosen to do this because, as already noted, indicators of habitus are unconscious, highly personal and manifest themselves in subtle ways. Thus, as a researcher I often have to make inference to the

150 educators’ habitus, based upon their lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes.

Therefore, for each case I present data pertaining to the educator’s habitus last, and utilize data from the other theoretical constructs to support my elucidations. It should be noted that given the interpretative nature of identifying habitus, alternative interpretations of my data are possible, and the reader is encouraged to interrogate my work and draw their own conclusions. Additionally, I chose to present the praxes of the educators prior to presenting their perceptions of ECD and ECCE. This was done because I feel that praxis is the most concrete of the theoretical constructs. Additionally, praxis can be observed and therefore the presentation of praxis is supported by both interview and observational data. Finally, the presentation of praxis facilitates the presentation of final two theoretical constructs, by providing supporting evidence for both the perceptions and habitus of the educators.

Table 7

Data Collection and Analysis Procedure

Step Procedure Data Collection Data collection conducted in Lebanon and then Denmark, 3 weeks with each educator, 3 interviews conducted with each ECCE educator, structured and unstructured observations were conducted, education documents were collected and photographs of institutions were taken

Transcriptions Transcription started while data collection was ongoing. Interviews were transcribed chronologically Translation Upon the completion of the Danish transcriptions the interviews were translated in chronological order

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Analysis and Coding of Transcripts Upon completion of transcription and translation of the interviews coding was begun. Interviews were read 1st time and notations of emerging issues were made. 2nd read through colored highlighters were used for the different a priori themes. 3rd read through data chunks were notated in separate document. Thematic categories were identified through use of this document and these served as the foundation for chapter 4.

Analysis of Observations Memos and Documents Following the analysis of transcriptions the observations, memos and documents were analyzed using the a priori themes, identified sub-themes and emergent themes.

The Setting and Context of the Lebanese Institution

Background.

The Lebanese Kindergarten selected for this study is part of a Lebanese School that is situated on the outskirts of the capital city of Beirut, on the slopes of Mount

Lebanon. The school overlooks the sea and is built with local sandstone, in the style of many of the buildings in Lebanon. The school was originally founded by European missionaries and its origins date back to the 18th century. Despite the schools missionary background, the school is secular. The school has approximately 1200 students and accommodates children from the ages of 3 to 18 years of age. The school is private and

English is the official language of instruction, although the French and Arabic languages also play a predominant role. The children who attend the school come from a range of social and cultural backgrounds, but the school is considered to be prestigious, both in

Lebanon and throughout the region. The impact of this fact would seem to be that educators in the Lebanese kindergarten do not often have to deal with issues associated with low socio-economic status in ECCE contexts, such as behavioral problems

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(Schweinhart, Barnett, Belfield & Nores, 2005), or a lack of basic nutrition, and access to healthcare (Izu, 2006).

The majority of the students come from the local community, but approximately

400 children are bused in everyday from Beirut. In addition to functioning as a day- school, the school also houses a number of boarding students, who typically come from abroad. The school has over 50 different nationalities represented in the student body, although some of these are dual-nationality Lebanese students. There is approximately 1 teacher to every 9 students at the school, with a total of approximately 120 teachers being employed. The teachers who are employed by the school are required to have a 4-year university degree in the field they teach. The school follows the Lebanese curriculum, which ends with the children taking the Lebanese Baccalaureate examinations at the age of 18. Successful completion of the Baccalaureate is required for students wishing to access tertiary level education in Lebanon. Prior to the Baccalaureate, the younger children follow the curriculum set by the Brevet. The Brevet is an educational diploma also used in France and (like the Baccalaureate) reflects Lebanon’s historical and cultural ties to France.

The Lebanese kindergarten.

The Kindergarten is situated by the lower gates of the school. The main building

(see photograph 1) was historically where the Kindergarten classes were housed. Today it is only the 1st

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Photograph 1

View of Lebanese Kindergarten from Playground

year kindergarten children (KG1) that have their classrooms in this building. In addition to the KG1 classes, this building houses the administration offices, the staffroom, the music room and the Kindergarten Library. The 2nd and 3rd year classes (KG2 and KG3) are now situated in new buildings at the rear of the main building. The new classrooms were completed 3 years ago, with input from the head of section and the homeroom teachers playing a role in their design. The children in KG1 are between 3-4 years of age, in KG2 the children are between 4-5 years of age and in KG3 the children are between 5-

6 years of age. There are 3 classes per year, approximately 30 children per class, totaling approximately 240 children for the whole kindergarten. The new classrooms are centered on an atrium, with glass windows ensuring that the area is well supplied with natural light

(see appendix D). The main building leads out to a courtyard (see photographs 1 & 2) that serves as the playground for KG1 and KG3. Break times between the two age groups are staggered

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Photograph 2

View of Infirmary, Playground and Lower Entrance from Lebanese Kindergarten

so that the younger and older children are not in the playground at the same time. The playground is built where the former school entrance was (see photograph 2) and the old roundabout can still be seen. The head of the Kindergarten said that the playground is the one issue that the Kindergarten struggles with, as it was not originally designed with this purpose in mind, and the playground does have a make-shift feel to it. The KG2 classes have a second playground located just outside of their classrooms (see appendix D).

Although this is very convenient, the head of section also feels that the facilities available for the children’s play are less than desired.

The classrooms are spacious and modern (see photograph 3). The children sit around large circular desks, approximately 6 children per desk. At the front of the room is the educator’s desk and next to it there is an electronic whiteboard and a carpet used for circle-time. There is a bathroom in the classroom and along the one

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Photograph 3

KG3 Classroom

side of the wall there are wooden cubby holes where the children can store their work. At the entrance to the classrooms there is a cloakroom for the children’s bags and jackets

(see appendix D). The classrooms are brightly colored and the walls are adorned with educational signs, artwork and pictures made by the students (see photograph 4).

Photograph 4

KG3 Cubby Holes and Bathroom

For KG1 class the school day starts at 8.00 am and for KG2 and KG3 the day starts at 7.45 am. The day is divided into seven 45-minute periods, 2 in the morning, 3 after break and 1 after lunch, and the school day ends at 2.30 pm. Most of the children eat the school lunch, which is brought to the classroom each day in small aluminum containers. The children eat their food at their desks with the educator and the Teacher’s

Assistant (TA) invigilating. The children bring their own snacks for the first break and

156 the educators insist that only healthy food should be consumed at break times. The children typically dress in Western style attire, where new jeans, franchise t-shirts and trademark trainers are commonplace.

Each period is designated to a specific subject, although the homeroom teacher has the autonomy to move classes around as she sees fit. Arabic and French are taught by specialist educators, who come to the class for a period and then leave to teach in other classes. All the other subjects, including English, Math, Science, Art and Physical

Education, are taught by the homeroom teacher, who is the primary educator responsible for the class of children. She is assisted by a TA. There are multiple TA’s and although each class does have a predominant TA who is allocated to them, the TA’s rotate during the course of the week. All the homeroom teachers and TA’s are required to have a bachelor’s degree. In the past the degree did not necessarily have to be in the field of

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), but now the head of section insists upon training within the field. This is not a state mandated policy, but a policy that has been chosen by the school itself. There are only women educators employed at the kindergarten. The head of section tries to employ women who also are mothers whenever possible. In addition to the teachers, there is a school counselor who is responsible for any behavioral and learning issues that go beyond the capacity of the individual homeroom teacher to deal with.

The study of language is prioritized at the school, with the children in KG2 having 5 periods of Arabic and French per week and KG3 having 7 periods of Arabic and

5 of French per week. In addition, English and Math are also given priority. English and

Math utilize English language textbooks. For English language education the school uses

157 the British textbook series Letterland (see appendix D). The Letterland books utilize phonics, which is an approach to teaching reading that focuses on the correspondences between letters or groups of letters and their pronounced sounds (Liu, n.d.). In addition to classroom books, Letterland also supply homework books for the students, that follow the work covered in class. Moreover, Letterland provide multimedia learning materials that can be accessed through the use of the electronic whiteboard. These learning materials include word games, songs and writing exercises. The head of section states that they used to use American English textbooks, which she preferred, but there is an insistence from the school that the English taught in the school should be British style English. This leads to a problem acquiring high-quality textbooks, because few British based companies that produce native speaker English textbooks will ship their products to

Lebanon20. Therefore, there is a limited range of textbooks available for the school to choose from. For math the school uses the American textbook Mathematics by Scott

Foresman-Addison Wesley. Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley provides both textbooks and homework books that follows the work covered in the classroom (see appendix D).

These books cover basic numeracy and basic geometry.

Every morning (unless the children have Arabic or French for the first period) the homeroom teacher conducts circle time with the children. Often circle time involves asking the children to tell the class about their evening or weekend. In addition, the homeroom teacher, using teacher materials hanging on the wall (see appendix D), elicits from the children the current weather and season. Together the class and the ECCE

20 Lebanon is a post-conflict country, having experienced civil war from 1975-1990. Additionally, Lebanon shares a border with Syria, which is currently undergoing its own civil conflict. The result of this situation is that the only way in which goods can enter Lebanon is via the sea, and, according to the head of section, many foreign companies refuse to trade with Lebanon because they consider it a security risk. This state of affairs reduces access to certain goods, such as school books, in Lebanon. 158 educator recite the days of the week and the months of the year and then the educator elicits from the children what day it is and what month. This often culminates with the educator writing the date on the whiteboard. Additionally, the words today, tomorrow and yesterday are also sometimes used in an instructional manner, for example “what day is it today? What is the date tomorrow?” The format for circle time in the morning is the same throughout kindergarten, from KG1 to KG3. Every day a boy and a girl are chosen to be the classroom helpers and two more children are chosen to be the line leaders. Line leaders lead the lines to and from the playground at break time. Typically, the children are divided into lines with boys in one line and girls in another.

The educators utilize what is known as differentiated instruction where, dependent upon the child’s capabilities (high, medium and low achievers), the content and approach to instruction changes. Typically, this means that extra support is provided to those children deemed to be struggling with the material and extra educational materials are provided to those children who are excelling. The learning objectives are derived from the state curriculum and divided up over the course of the year. Learning objectives are standardized across the 3 classes of each year group (KG 1, 2 and 3); this is achieved through weekly teacher’s meetings, where the homeroom teachers decide what content will be covered in the classes for the coming week. The majority of the content is derived from the work books, but extra material may be added and, for the arts and science subjects, original activities may also be planned collectively. According to the head of section the adaption of the teaching materials is important because the textbooks do not always align with the requirements of the Lebanese state curriculum. During the course of the week the educator has autonomy to decide how the weekly learning

159 objectives are to be met, but by the end of the week all 3 classes in each year should have covered the same material in class.

As the children progress through kindergarten the classes are shuffled at the start of each new school year, so that the children do not stay with the same cohort for the 3 years of Kindergarten. This is done to ensure that the children get to know their entire cohort during their time in kindergarten, but it also allows children deemed to have a poor influence on each other to be separated when they move up a year. Assessment plays an ongoing role in the educator’s praxis. All the material that is covered in class is examined and graded by the homeroom teacher at the time of completion. Homework is given each day and the homeroom teacher and TA check homework every day. In addition, the educators keep track of the children’s progress using a standardized measurement scale, across all subjects. Results on this scale serve as the foundation of the report cards, which are provided to the children’s families (see appendix D).

Mariam

Mariam is a 35-year old KG3 homeroom teacher who has been working at the school for approximately 15 years. The children in her charge are between 5 and 6 years of age. She started working at this school immediately after completing her university education, and she has never worked at another school. She was born in Lebanon, attended school in Lebanon and she studied Elementary education, with minors in math and science, at university in Lebanon. She is a mother and one of her children attends the school. She is a very caring and affectionate educator, who, in addition to providing the children with quality academic instruction, creates a warm and caring environment where the children feel safe, nurtured and happy. It should be noted that no thematic categories

160 are named for Mariam’s lived-experiences, because I wished to focus upon the totality of her experiences, as she expressed them in the interview data.

Table 8

Mariam; Themes and Sub-themes

A priori Themes Thematic Categories

Lived-Experiences n/a

Praxis Differentiated Teaching Discipline Care

Perceptions of ECD Play Routines Socialization

Perceptions of ECCE Child-centered Praxis Stress

Habitus High, Average & Low Achievers Classroom Rules

Emerging Themes Love

Lived-experiences.

Mariam was born in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war. She is the youngest child in her family and she has two older sisters and two older brothers. Her mother was a teacher and one of her older sisters is currently a teacher. Much of her extended family moved abroad during the war and they now live in the United States and in Australia.

Mariam explains, “. . . [m]y uncles and aunts are not really next to us. . . . During the war many of them left and they are still khalas [enough] they live abroad.” As the fighting in the civil war intensified during 1982 her family was forced to move to the relative safety

161 of the mountains. Mariam describes how “we were living in Beirut and then maybe in

’82, during the war, we left . . . it was about Christians and Muslims, so we were

Christians and we had to move away . . . we didn’t go back.”

Mariam completed her schooling in the mountains, starting in kindergarten at the age of 3, recalling “The system was not like the system we know now, it was firm, it was tough, I remember we used to cry a lot. . . . I have memories of crying.” After one year in kindergarten she moved to an English language evangelical school, which Mariam remembers more positively, saying “It was child friendly, more toys, that is what I remember, colorful.” The educator does not have lasting memories from this time, but she recalls that there was a lot of playing, she made friends and cried less than before.

After grade 5 she moved to another English language school, where she stayed all the way through high school. Mariam remembers the atmosphere at this school was tough, recalling “My school was more like academic. They cared about the academic part, or the grades, not really the wellbeing of the child and the social skills.” But she recounts that as she got older the attitude of her teachers shifted and they seemed to be more engaged with her as an individual. The educator recalls that she had a particular interest in science, because her teachers “ . . .[m]ade up investigations, thinking the research and more or less they treated us as grownups . . . like they were directing us at the lower level. As we grew up through high school it became more like a two-way thing.” Currently, Mariam teaches science based subject matter in her KG3 class, but to a lesser degree than English and math.

At the age of 18 Mariam sat for her Lebanese Baccalaureate examinations, recalling “How many subjects? It was plenty, biology, physics, chemistry, math, Arabic,

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English, basically these were the ones.” The Baccalaureate examinations did not take place at her school, but rather the students were bused to different locations in the country, to unfamiliar surroundings and teachers. Mariam recalls that the stakes were high during the examinations, stating “It was really stressful. If you fail you have to repeat your year . . . you fail the, the government [exam] you have to repeat the whole year, and sometimes they kick them out. They have to go repeat somewhere else.” The stress that Mariam felt during her school examinations seems to have had a formative impact upon her current perceptions and praxes. As we shall see later, Mariam feels that the curriculum she uses is sometimes stressful for children, but she accepts it is necessary if the children are to be properly prepared to succeed when they have to sit for the

Baccalaureate examinations.

Fortunately, Mariam managed to successfully pass the Baccalaureate examinations, and was accepted to study elementary education at a university in

Lebanon. She started this program immediately after completing her exams, studying elementary education, specializing in math and science and completing her teaching diploma. When asked which subjects she particularly enjoyed, Mariam replied “I liked the psychology courses and the English courses, children’s psychology. . . . Piaget, how to be with kids, the stages that they pass through.” As part of the degree the educator was required, in her final semester, to complete a work-placement in her field. For her work- placement Mariam returned to her former high school, which she really enjoyed. In addition to observing a homeroom teacher, Mariam also had to plan and teach her own lessons. It was Mariam’s first experience working as a teacher of young children and she really enjoyed it. She recalls, “The interaction was really nice, it gave me experience,

163 dealing with kids that age, with their problems and not having a friend, it was a different experience.” When asked if it was strange to return to her own school in the capacity of a trainee teacher Mariam responded, “It was different . . . I hadn’t been [gone], maybe three years, just two or three years. . . . I was at a different school, so even the building was not familiar, even the teachers in elementary were not so familiar to me.” The work- placement and the experience of watching a professional ECCE instructor at work seems to have informed Mariam’s own approach to ECCE praxis. Of the teacher she observed,

Mariam states, “She is a role model. . . . I started to adopt her ways, and then through experience, I have my own style of teaching now.” Learning how to teach ECCE by observing other educators in the classroom is an experience Mariam shares with the other

Lebanese participant, Leila.

Upon the completion of her bachelor’s degree, the educator was employed by the school in the role of Teacher’s Assistant (TA) in the kindergarten. She feels that moving from elementary level education to kindergarten was a big shift for her and changed her approach to education, because of the unique requirements of ECCE. Mariam expounds,

“I felt that it [praxis] changed after I taught this age. As I already told you I specialized in elementary education. . . . This was something new to me. The age was really new.” The educator stayed at the school and later received the position of homeroom teacher for

KG3. During her time at the school the educator has participated in a number of professional development courses that have informed her current praxis, particularly workshops focusing upon differentiated teaching strategies. Mariam states that using differentiated teaching strategies have

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“. . . [h]elped put me on the right track . . . erm maybe not to [teach] the whole class the same thing. . . . I have activities for high-achievers when they are done, for the average achievers when they are done, for the low achievers when they are done.” Differentiated teaching plays a central role in the educator’s praxis, and I explore this issue further in the next section, where I look at Mariam’s own approach to ECCE praxis.

Praxis.

Mariam is a homeroom teacher for KG3, she is responsible for the majority of instruction that KG3 receive during the course of the school week. She teaches English,

Math, Art, Science and Physical Education (P.E.), with English and Math being the two most prominent subjects. When I began my data collection the new school year had just started. The children found themselves in a new class with a new teacher and new classmates. Mariam clarifies, “We haven’t started the real schedule . . . we are just like now introducing ourselves [to] the kids.” During the course of my data collection in KG3

Mariam started to establish relationships with the children in her charge, and differentiate her approach to ECCE so as to support the children’s individuated learning needs.

Differentiated teaching.

An important component in the Mariam’s approach to ECCE praxis is her utilization of differentiated teaching. She explains, “Basically in a week or two we are going to start differentiated teaching. So like the gifted together, the average kids together and those that need help together.” Differentiated teaching entails that Mariam creates specialized learning materials, tailored to meet each child’s level of aptitude. The educator highlights how, “I was giving extra work to the talented . . . so the high- achievers sit together at the same table, the average kids they, by then I will know who

165 the low achievers are and I will be sitting there with them.” To facilitate differentiated learning in the classroom setting the children have to be seated according to their ability, and Mariam explains how “It is up to the teacher to put them in the proper seating in class

. . . at some point the high-achievers they work by themselves, the average maybe work with the assistant and the lower achievers with me.” Sometimes the high-achievers are employed to assist with the underachievers: “I do that in like group work. So I put two high-achievers with the low or average achievers, and they help them and explain to them after I explain. And I move around.” Diagnostics seems to play a central role in Mariam’s praxis. Circle time is a convenient arena where the educator can explore the range and depth of her children’s comprehension. Circle time, as previously noted, is used throughout the kindergarten and Mariam often uses it when she is explaining a new activity or if she is checking to ensure the students understand a given concept, elucidating “I try to get from the kids what they know about the letter S, how to write the letter S more or less, it is like diagnostic assessment, to see what the kids know and we build on top of it.” To successfully ensure the children are learning as they should, discipline is very important. In the next sub-section I explore Mariam’s approach to using discipline in the classroom discipline.

Discipline.

Mariam has to cover a lot academic material with the children during the course of the school year and this requires no small portion of discipline on the part of both the educator and the children. The differences in ability amongst the children can have a disruptive influence on the class. This means the teacher often has to impose discipline upon the children. Typically this was achieved by hushing the children when the ambient

166 noise level in the classroom reaches levels where it causes disturbance. An example of how the educator uses discipline in the classroom can be seen in this example from a structured observation taken on the 05/10/2016,

How does the teacher negotiate children's interactions with each other?

Very closely, particularly if these interactions start to be disruptive. If the children

interact quietly then she leaves them alone, even if they talk constantly. There

seems to be a noise threshold that is the key driver of her interventions. For

example three boys had been given permission to sit together, but as soon as it

becomes clear that they are talking too loudly she seats the one boy elsewhere.

In addition, the educator spends considerable time reinforcing the rules of the kindergarten. Mariam elucidates, “Be a good friend and use the quiet voice. So we really stress that. But also we have the hallway rule; that you shouldn’t run in the hallway. We use a quiet voice, we stay in line.” The reiteration and reinforcement of rules is a daily occurrence at the kindergarten, and Mariam utilizes different techniques to help ensure the children’s cooperation, for example she explains how “We have the behavior chart . .

. [so] if you sit properly in circle time I put a tick for you. And by the time you have 10 ticks they get to pick something from the grab bag.” The constant reiteration of the classroom rules has the effect that the children begin to internalize the school’s ethical code and the children begin to enforce the classroom rules themselves: “It gets like that.

With a few exceptions basically it gets like that. And they remind each other. . . . Then I know that they’ve got it.” In the case of disciplinary issues the teacher has the possibility to remove ticks from the grab-bag behavior chart (see appendix D), move the child or remove some of their break-time. In cases where these sanctions do not work sufficiently

167 then other staff members become involved, and Mariam explains, “First I would try to involve the head of section, and then the counselor if it needed that. And then we would move to set a meeting with parents to talk to them.” However, discipline is not the only strategy that Mariam uses to ensure the children in her class are learning and developing in an appropriate manner. In the next section I will explore Mariam’s approach to using care in the ECCE classroom.

Care.

Despite a strong focus on discipline in the classroom, Mariam also creates a warm and caring environment for the children. In fact the educator sees no difficulty in incorporating both discipline and care into her praxis, elucidating “You don’t need to be rough while telling them to be quiet. It is part of the class rules. . . . How will they learn if they are moving around all the time? At the end of the day I have objectives to fulfil.”

Mariam sees care as an inclusive phenomenon, not just expressed through physical affection, but also through verbal interactions. Mariam believes children who are well cared for are more willing and able to learn, highlighting “The most important thing is the wellbeing of the kids. Other than the academic part the thing I care most about in my job is the kids being happy, feeling relaxed, being protected.” In the next section I examine

Mariam’s perceptions of ECD.

Perceptions of ECD.

As mentioned in Chapter 2, the phenomenon of ECD is complex and has given rise to a broad array of different theoretical interpretations. None the less, for educators working in the field it is necessary to have some conception of ECD (Davis, Freeman,

Doherty, Karlsson, Everiss, Couch, Hinke-Rahnau, 2012), when trying to create high-

168 quality learning environments for children (Bennett & Neuman; 2004, Lenn & Hayden,

2009). As we have already seen, Mariam enjoyed and was inspired by learning developmental theory at university. However the educator feels that the real learning about children occurred when she started teaching. Mariam explains, “The experience I have been through like, the thing that really taught me how to deal with kids, I got the basics from university, but the daily experience is the most important thing.” Mariam’s daily experiences with play have led her to a very particular perspective of its role in

ECCE.

Play.

In my mind, of particular interest for this case are Mariam’s perceptions of play.

This is interesting because it falls under the domain of ECD, but also because, at the

Lebanese school, it exists as a domain separate from formal tuition and occupies only a small role in the day to day life in the KG3 classroom. The educator sees playtime as a safe space where she can engage with the children in a non-formal manner and that can help the children to feel joyful about being in school. Mariam states, “I feel really happy seeing the kids playing together, it is a different setting in the playground . . . they don’t have to work, or follow my instructions.” Mariam does on occasion take the opportunity to participate in play with her children, and she feels that when this occurs it provides her with the opportunity to engage with the children informally and get to know them in a different way than when she is teaching in the classroom. Mariam stipulates that where possible she tries to include play based activities during class time. An example of a play based activity used by Mariam can be seen in the following unstructured observation conducted 30/09/2016,

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The children are told that they can select any art materials but not the play dough,

as they will soon be eating lunch. The classroom helpers place stencils on the

teacher’s desk for children to select. The TA and the educator discuss the

children’s progress in Arabic.

The children seem to enjoy the activity and the relative freedom it provides them, compared to the more structured and rigorous nature of the academic activities in this

KG3 class. I noted in my observation notes that particularly the boys seemed to enjoy chatting to their neighbors while drawing, coloring and stenciling. However, it appeared to be difficult for Mariam to maintain discipline in the classroom, if she was not constantly monitoring the children during the freer activities,

Mariam is busy helping some of the children put their files into their cubby holes.

The class suddenly seems to be falling into chaos; again this always seems to

happen when the educators are occupied with activities not directly related to

observing the children.

It seems that in KG3 it can be difficult to combine free play with an otherwise disciplined and controlled classroom environment. However, even with the disciplined and controlled nature of the majority of the instruction in her KG3 classroom, Mariam perceives the children’s play evolves and develops over time, and Mariam believes that the more complex and collective modes of play are not apparent until the children reach

KG2, stating “I think it starts at the end of KG2 and moves onward to KG3. . . . In KG1 they are new, they are small and like, not really playing with each other.” In the next section I will explore Mariam’s perceptions of routine in the classroom context.

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Routine.

Routine and structure play central roles in the day to day life of the KG3 classroom, and this perhaps accounts for why it can be difficult for the educator to incorporate freer, less structured elements into classroom activities. Structure is particularly apparent with regards to the daily use of circle-time, but also in how the lessons themselves are structured. Many of the day to day behaviors of the children are characterized by their adherence to set routines. Mariam explains, “The kids have to put their math books or these papers in their portfolios, or in their cubby holes, so it is like part of being responsible . . . part of being organized.” The children are expected to be responsible for keeping their own cubby holes neat and tidy every day. Mariam feels that such daily routines are an important component of ECCE praxes because it makes the children feel comfortable.

The educator perceives that, in what is an occasionally stressful environment, routine can help to reduce stress for children. Mariam claims, “It’s the routines that make the kids feel safe. They know what is coming up, they know that we start the day with circle time, they know that math is coming, they know that English is coming, it makes them feel comfortable and safe.” When speaking of her own approach to instruction,

Mariam stresses that she always follows the same approach because routine is so important for children of this age: “It follows this pattern. I explain in circle time to the whole class. This is our system . . . [I] sit with the low achievers and the average kids with the assistant. So basically we explain in circle time and then go to the tables.” In the next section I will explore Mariam’s perceptions of the role socialization plays in ECCE.

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Socialization.

Due to the stable and predictable nature of day to day life in the KG3 classroom,

Mariam considers kindergarten to be an optimal setting within which children can start to become socialized into society. Mariam stresses the importance of the child’s interactions with the ECCE educator, saying, “It is something which they do not do at home, which is very healthy.” Additionally, Mariam stresses that the ECCE educator plays an important role in helping the children to learn how to engage socially, not just with the educators, but also with their peers. Mariam stresses the importance of her role in the children’s socialization, stating “I am a stranger to them, not part of the family.” Mariam feels it is her role as outsider that allows her to interact with the children differently than they would with their own families. She feels this is beneficial and allows her, in the context of the ECCE setting, to support the children’s development of social skills in ways not possible in the home. In the next section I look at the Mariam’s perceptions of ECCE.

Perceptions of ECCE.

Dealing with the complexities of ECD and the requirements of ECCE curriculum places unique requirements on the praxes of ECCE educators, and their identity plays an important role in determining the content of ECCE praxis (Dausbjerg, Freitas & Valero,

2013).

Child-centered Praxis.

Mariam believes good ECCE is child-centered, and she defines child-centered praxis as “…[k]ids sitting together at the same table, not each having his own desk, working in groups…group work and presenting at the end, projects.” For Mariam it seems important that she does not perceive herself as an instructor, despite the overtly

172 academic nature of much of the educational content in KG3. The educator feels, “With my students here I don’t take the role of the instructor. It is like a two-way thing.” To highlight this point Mariam stresses that she purposefully uses open ended questions when assessing the children’s comprehension and that she tries to allow them to explore within the classroom context, explaining “You have to work at it. We take the information that everyone needs from the books and we play the role of the facilitator to give it to the students, but they are part of the learning as well.”

However, the constant demands that stem from the curriculum and the weekly learning objectives can make it difficult for the educator to utilize a child-centered approach. In fact there does seem to be an inherent tension between the academic requirements and the child-centered view of education: “I believe that play is one of the most important [learning domains] . . . if it were up to me there would be a lot more play…but there is a curriculum that we have to follow.” Despite the difficulties involved in adopting a child-centered learning approach in conjunction with a strict and didactic curriculum, the educator believes in the metaphysical underpinnings of the child-centered method, stating “Every child learns in a different way, some of the kids need hands on activities, some of them learn through [a] disciplined way. . . . So it is like challenging.”

The pressure to meet the external standards can also be seen in the types of work that the children do. The tasks provided by the text books are often very uniform and this uniformity allows educators to utilize the same instructional approach every day. Even with the more creative work that is done, there is a remarkable uniformity and standardization to the approach, as can be seen in this example from an unstructured observation taken on the 06/10/2016,

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The children are cutting trees that they painted yesterday and they will then glue

the leaves on to it, the ones that they collected yesterday. Motor-skills are one of

the key learning domains the teacher is interested in (as this is the first time they

use scissors in class). She wants to see who can already use the scissors properly.

What is striking about these creative activities is the uniform nature of the work that is produced by the children. It seems that the art activities are a pretext for the teachers’ to observe a series of developmental domains, inaccessible in the other more didactic types of lesson. In photograph 5 you can see another example of art

Photograph 5

Example of Lebanese Children’s Artwork

work that was produced by the children while I was observing the KG3 classroom. The shapes and possible combinations of the materials were established by the KG3 teachers a priori (all three KG3 classrooms produced similar pieces of work), and it is clear that the number of possible variations is limited. Such an approach was very different to that which will be presented in the Danish cases later in this chapter. In the next section I will explore how Mariam perceives stress in the ECCE classroom.

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Stress.

Despite Mariam’s best efforts to create a stimulating, well-ordered, and safe classroom environment for the children of KG3, she admits that the constant requirements to meet the externally mandated learning objectives can be stressful for the children: “Yes, of course it is stressful for the kids. Maybe in a different system it would be more about play . . . not academics all the time, evaluations.” Parallels can be drawn between the educator’s own lived-experiences with the Lebanese education system, and her perceptions of how her praxis can be, despite her own best efforts, stressful for the children in her care. In the next section I examine Mariam’s Habitus, how it is linked to her lived-experiences and how it influences her perceptions and praxis.

Habitus.

In this study I define Habitus as the cohesive and coherent synthesis of the individual’s lived-experiences, “giving rise to an affinity of style” (Bourdieu, 1993, p.8).

I posit that direct linkages can be made between the educators’ lived-experiences and their perceptions and praxes, through the mediating medium of the Habitus.

High, average and low achievers in the Lebanese school system.

Despite expressing the viewpoint that the requirements of the Lebanese curriculum can be stressful for the children, and expressing that if she had more control over content she would choose to incorporate more play based elements into her praxis,

Mariam seems generally to have faith in the form the Lebanese education system takes.

For example, when asked what age she feels children should start in ECCE programs, she displays her faith in the Lebanese status quo, responding “Three years is fair, because, I think they are able to like, really understand what is going on around, they can express

175 verbally, they can talk to you, tell you what’s wrong and if they are happy, they are sad, they are sick . . . they can follow the routines, the rules.” In this instance Mariam gives good examples as to why she believes that 3 is the appropriate age to start children in

ECCE programs, but in Denmark children start in ECCE programs from 9 months of age, also to seemingly positive results

Education systems are governed by rules that are typically decided at the macro- level, but these rules seem also to be internalized by individuals and can manifest themselves in praxis at the micro-level (Lord & McFarland, 2010). An example of this can be seen in Mariam’s perceptions of her students as falling into high, average and low achievement groups. The idea that children fall into high, average and low achievement groups is rooted in the statistical analysis of large scale standardized test performances, mainly conducted with older age groups (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994). However, for the educator these ideas seem to have been suitably internalized so that she feels she is able to quickly discern which of her students fall into each of these categories. She explains,

“I can tell you many things about the different kids . . . I can see who is academically weak. . . . Experience and time help me do that. It’s instinct and experience.” The educator’s habitus in this instance also informs her praxis, with Mariam often focusing specifically on the children who struggle with the academic content in her classroom. In fact, differentiated practice is defined by teachers’ tailoring content to support the individuated needs of the child. But Mariam’s perceptions of children being high, average and low achievers appears to me to be part of her habitus, which predates her utilization of individuated instruction.

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Mariam has experienced the high stakes nature of the Lebanese education system, knows that failure to succeed can have serious consequences for the children’s futures, and is right to take the children’s achievement levels seriously. However, there also seems to be a connection between the children’s developmental age and their academic achievements, Mariam articulates, “This year . . . the three weakest kids in my class are . .

. really younger than the other kids.” So, there would seem to be an inherent tension between the state mandated curriculum, the educator’s faith that she can relatively quickly differentiate between high, average and low achievers, and the fact that because of the age group, there can be large developmental differences between the children in

KG3. In the next section I further explore Mariam’s perceptions of classroom rules and how I believe them to be a product of her habitus.

Classroom rules.

It seems that Mariam’s habitus also influences how she perceives the use of discipline and class rules in ECCE. As we have already seen, Mariam’s own school based lived-experiences took place in highly controlled and strict classroom environments, where measureable academic outcomes were the primary focus of instruction. The educator seems to display a far greater amount of care than perhaps her own teachers did, and she also has an appreciation that there are many different ways in which children learn. That said she seems to have a rigid view of the role rules and discipline play in the classroom and how children perceive the rules that they are subject to. Mariam states,

“Basically the rules were set, but they are child friendly the rules, of course. They come from children . . . the rules are set, but I am sure that they come from the families, they come from the kids.” When I asked if the educator ever encouraged the children to

177 question why the rules are as they are, she responded, “They never question why the things are like that. But if they question we are willing to answer.” Mariam attributes her approach to using rules in the classroom to culture, explaining “I guess it is a different culture where you come from and where we come from . . . we put choice, but it is limited.” In the next section I explore the emerging theme of Mariam’s love of ECCE.

Emerging themes.

Love.

A key theme to emerge from Mariam’s data is love. Mariam is a deeply committed and passionate ECCE educator who feels a strong bond with the children in her care. This is not something that has emerged slowly during her years of experience, but is rather a feeling that was present right from the time she started working professionally with young children. She states that back then, “I really wanted to teach, being around small kids and, and teaching.” This feeling of loving working in an ECCE context seems never to have left Mariam and she is of the opinion that the urge to care and love children is something that exists in her as part of her human nature: “… [t]he caring part was like human nature. You care, you love.” For Mariam there are linkages between her role as an educator and her role as a mother. She stipulates, “This age group needs a lot of care, sometimes maybe the kid is sick, cranky, he doesn’t express. So you have to ask him like a mom. To be a mom.” Mariam’s perception of how ECCE praxis is linked to motherhood will be explored further in the in-case comparison for the Lebanese site.

Mariam is a committed, capable, and caring ECCE practitioner, who attempts to balance the often contradictory demands of an externally mandated curriculum and the

178 needs and desires of the young children in her care. Given the difficulties of these demands she handles her job with aplomb. The children are clearly happy to be in her class and the affectionate responses they give her are a testament to this fact.

Leila

Leila is a 28-year old KG2 homeroom teacher who has been working at the school for approximately 8 years. The children in her charge are between 4 and 5 years of age.

Leila started to work at this school immediately after completing her university education, and she has never worked at another school. She was born in Lebanon, attended school in Lebanon and she studied child psychology at university in Lebanon.

She is an attentive, caring and capable ECCE educator, who draws upon her background studying child psychology to help her understand the distinct intricacies of each child’s personality, and she tailors her instruction to meet the children’s unique needs. It should be noted that no thematic categories are named for Leila’s lived-experiences, because I wished to focus upon the totality of her experiences, as she expressed them in the interview data.

Table 9

Leila; Themes and Sub-themes

Themes Thematic Categories Lived-Experiences n/a Praxis A Typical Day Use of Technology

Perceptions of ECD The Role of Child psychology Play

Perceptions of ECCE Academic Content The Role of the Educator

Habitus ECCE and Motherhood Play in Formal Schooling Use of Rules Emerging Themes Interactions with Parents

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Lived-experiences.

Leila was born in Lebanon and has lived in Lebanon all of her life. She comes from a family with 2 older brothers. Her father passed away when she was young and her mother had “…[t]o be the mom and the dad at the same time, with three kids and two boys, teenagers, you know, my brother was 13 and my other brother was 11.” After her father passed away Leila’s mother began to work at a local private school. The school was located in the mountains above Beirut and Leila grew up in a house close to the school where her mother worked. Leila’s mother played a central role in her development. She explains, “She guided us on the right path, you know she could have easily ignored us . . . thank God, we are here because of her.” Raising a family alone was not easy and the mother had to sometimes be strict: “She had to be very strict. The rules and regulations and when she says something, this is how it is going to be. She doesn’t back up.” The educator feels that in this sense she is very similar to her mother, particularly with regards to rules, stating “Especially in the classroom . . . when I have decided something I don’t back down.” This position was not supported by the data collected for this study. Leila seems to be flexible in her approach to ECCE, and comfortable changing her praxis to meet the needs of the children in her class.

Leila attended the school where her mother worked, and she still remembers some of her teachers from that time, particularly her kindergarten teacher, “She pinched my cheeks the whole time. I had chubby cheeks.” However, the educator remembers her own experiences with ECCE as being stricter than what she herself practices today, recalling

“It is different then, it is more strict . . . it is not child centered.” During school English was her favorite subject: “It is a nice language and it was easy for me, you know, to adapt

180 to it, to study it. It was interesting and actually I liked to write essays.” From quite early on Leila recalls developing an interest in the field of psychology, stating “I wanted to become a psychologist since grade 9, it just hit me, I don’t know, I didn’t have an idea about it, but I was interested in it, so I decided like that.” However, the idea of psychology persisted and the educator remembers researching psychology on the internet:

“Once I realized that educational psychology was dealing with kids I directly chose it.”

At this juncture Leila had not had very much contact with young children, but she attributes her interest in early childhood to her close relationship to her nieces and nephews.

During this time Leila sat for her Baccalaureate examinations. Although she passed successfully, she did not find it an easy or pleasant experience, recalling “We have the governmental exam. I passed, barely, you know but I passed. Because the stress was awful . . . you are going to a place that you don’t know, with teachers who might be nice or very mean.” After successfully passing the Baccalaureate exams she was accepted to study psychology at university. During her time at university she took courses in child psychology, abnormal psychology, educational psychology. Leila particularly enjoyed her classes with her advisor, remembering “I took several courses with him, he used to give us exams and tell us that ‘this exam is your client’. You take it home for ten days, you deal with it.” Leila’s advisor also influenced her choice to enter the field of ECCE.

In addition to taking courses at the university, Leila also had to complete two work-placements. The first work-placement took place in a hospital that specialized in treating patients with psychological disorders. For her second work-placement Leila had to spend time in a school and for this she decided to go back to her own old school. Leila

181 states, “I observed classes from KG to grade 9, and I had to write up a final report about it and give it to my teacher and to the principle of the school.” Leila was not impressed by how ECCE was conducted at her former school. In one instance she observed a KG2

(4-5 years) math test, where 15 children at one time were completing the test, while the other 15 children were made to sit quietly on the floor. Leila recalls, “I was sitting there, looking at them, you know, and the kids that were doing the math test were sweating and stressed out and they were like five. . . . The fact that there is an exam for this age group is too much.” Leila adopts an approach to ECCE that focuses less on specific discrete educational outcomes, and more on the holistic development of each child.

Upon the completion of her work-placement Leila began applying for work as school counsellor, which her Bachelor’s degree in psychology qualified her to do.

However, she did not receive any responses to her applications, and she recalls consulting with her university advisor: “I remember the first time I met him, before I started university, he told me he sees me as a kindergarten teacher, I took his advice.” The school where she currently works was the only institution that called Leila for an interview and four days after the interview the school principle contacted her to inform her that she had been employed as an ECCE educator. Leila completed her studies at university and within the space of a month she began working at the ECCE institution.

Initially the educator was employed as a teaching assistant (TA), and this provided Leila with the opportunity to observe how the other homeroom teachers conducted their work.

Leila feels her time working as a TA helped to inform her own praxis, remembering “I observed, how the teachers interact, how they setup their classrooms, I took lots from

182 each class you know and I put it all in my own way.” In the next section I will explore

Leila’s ECCE praxis in her KG2 classroom.

Praxis.

Leila is a homeroom teacher for KG2 and she is responsible for the majority of the instruction that her class receives. She teaches English, Math, Art, Science and

Physical Education, with English and Math being the two predominant subjects. When I began collecting data in her classroom the educator had already been together with her children for 3 weeks and the children were beginning to settle into their new routines in their new classroom.

A typical day.

When asked to describe a typical day at work Leila states that she wakes every day at 6am, “I have coffee with my mom and I dress up and I move from the house at around 6.45.” She reaches the ECCE institution at 7.15 and by 7.30 she takes the children from the waiting room, situated in the old building (see photograph 1), down to her classroom, where “They hang their jackets, they put their bags, they take out their water bottles, they put them on the shelf and they come back inside.” The morning routine seen in Leila’s class is similar to what we saw in Mariam’s KG3 class, and this same structure is used throughout the kindergarten.

Leila explains how every Monday she introduces a new letter and every Tuesday a new number is introduced, stating “I show them a flash card with the letter and I see who can recognize it. So I can know who has difficulty recognizing the letter . . . so I can help them.” When teaching the children new letters Leila first lets them trace the outline, before moving on to formal learning activities, because “This is the way, you know, we

183 trace first and then they will know how to write. For those who face difficulties I sit next to them and I erase so that they can repeat again and again and again.” An example of a writing exercise can be seen in the following unstructured observation, made on the

14/10/2016,

The educator introduces the final exercise before lunch time. It is a writing

exercise. The children in this writing exercise will be free drawing the letter O.

Under the exercise there is a space where the children must draw pictures that

start with the letter O [see photograph 8].

Photograph 6

KG2 Writing Exercise

At 8.45 am the children have breakfast before they have a 30-minute break in the playground. Lunch time is at 12 noon, and at this time the children eat their food before going outside to play for a further 30 minutes. Most of the children are part of the lunch program and their hot meals are brought to the classroom. Before being allowed to go outside the children have to show the teacher how much they have eaten. Each time the children return from the playground, Leila has the children sit at their desks, their heads

184 resting on their arms, eyes closed, while she plays soothing music to them for a few minutes, in order to help them relax and focus in preparation for the next class.

Although Leila has a fixed weekly timetable she has the autonomy to change the order of her lessons as she sees fit, as long as she meets her weekly learning objectives: “I don’t look at the schedule and say like we have English now and then we do math. No I think that usually in the morning I start with English and then in the afternoon I do the math. And once per week we have science.” Typically, the educator does not do academic activities after lunch, because she feels the children are too tired at this point.

Instead she will let them play, or sometimes she lets them watch an educational program on the electronic whiteboard. Due to the fact that the children tend not to do formal activities after lunch, the classroom contains more toys and games than Mariam’s KG3 classroom. The teacher deliberately chooses toys and games that have learning content and are gender neutral, noting “The toys are not like boy orientated or girl orientated . . . we choose new toys every year and I make sure that everyone must be able to play with it, boys and girls.” During my time observing Leila there were numerous occasions when the children in her class participated in free-play, with no notable gender divides.

A good example of a play-based activity can be seen in the following unstructured participant observation, taken on the 10/25/2016,

At 11.54 the English exercise is complete and the children are given permission to

play freely. Children on the carpet are playing primarily with number puzzles and

other puzzles. Children at one table are building with wooden construction sets.

At a second table they are playing with puzzles using geometric shapes. A final

table is playing with playdough.

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The school day ends at 2.30. Eight of the educator’s students leave to take the bus down to Beirut, and those remaining put the chairs up on the tables. The teacher sings songs with the children until their parents arrive. In the next section I will explore Leila’s use of technology.

Use of technology.

As previously noted, the school is well equipped with modern digital technology and each classroom has access to its own electronic whiteboard. Leila enjoys using the board and it plays an integral role in her praxis: “I love it. When they told us that they were going to put an active board in each class, it was really good.” She continues, “We did workshops with one of the workers here. He explained to us how we should use it and what we can do with it and the advantage of it.” The board allows the educator access to countless educational resources, such as pictures songs and educational games. An example of how the educator utilizes the electronic whiteboard to liven up her activities can be seen in the following unstructured observation, taken on the 10/17/2016:

The children are sitting on the carpet, with the teacher sat in front of the children,

eliciting what they did over the weekend…The children seem tired and subdued.

Bubbles [the pause screen] appear on the white board and the children get very

excited, disrupting the exercise. The teacher gets up and presses the space bar to

stop it. Upon the completion of the activity the teacher says “let's put a song on”

and finds the song on YouTube. It is a counting song, but it also gets the children

to do exercises like arm circles as well. The children love dancing.

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Leila gauges the mood of her children and adapts her praxis accordingly. In the next section I will explore this aspect of Leila’s praxis more deeply, by looking at her perceptions of ECD.

Perceptions of ECD.

The role of child psychology.

As previously noted, Leila studied child psychology at university. Studying child psychology has changed the way in which Leila thinks about children. She recalls, “I used to maybe, ok hang out with the kids, you know? Play with them, but once you go into it more you realize that not all kids understand it from one way . . . each one is unique, each one is.” This individuated view of the child sometimes collides with the educational objectives that the educator has to meet each week: “Like here you have a program that you have to finish, you know. . . . I sometimes totally forget that I am a child psychologist and I have to finish my work, but I work hard myself to stay in this zone usually.” The educator highlights how maturation plays a key role in the children’s acquisition of formal and non-formal learning, expressing “Like errr, they mature, because like you know that you have a two week gap [for Christmas], you know, where they don’t see. . . . I see a lot of difference in the motor-skills. It is like better you know?”

In the next section I explore Leila’s perceptions of and use of play in the ECCE classroom.

Play.

Leila’s focus upon the individual development of the children in her class has implications for class content. Play has a prominent role in her classroom, and the educator does not view play as merely the frivolous occupation of young children

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(Gopnik, 2009), but rather as a space where she can observe the children’s interactions, explaining “When I observe them while playing they give me much more. You know, I can go deeper and I can figure out how they deal with each other, how they deal with themselves.” Sometimes Leila likes to focus upon subtle aspects of individual child behavior, noting “… [l]ike the tonality of the voice. . . . You can see as well that, how much they take care of their toys . . . It shows a lot.” Leila feels her background in psychology has helped her in her current role as an ECCE educator, and she states that other educators would also benefit from similar training, explaining “I started realizing that I think every teacher should take at least a couple of psychology courses, because it helps a lot you know . . . they are both linked. For me I cannot teach without psychology.” This position seems to have important implications for Leila’s praxis and I will examine it further in the next section when I examine her perceptions of ECCE.

Perceptions of ECCE.

Academic content.

Leila studied child psychology, but she has now been working in the field of

ECCE for 8 years. Although she does feel her academic background plays an important role in determining her ECCE praxis, she believes experience in the field is also important. In fact the educator relies on experience to constantly evaluate her delivery of academic content, noting “We trace a lot, motor-skills, straight lines, wavy lines. Because this helps a lot when they start letters, because some of the letters are straight and some are round.” Leila explains how these procedures are not fixed and invariant, “We choose them and each year we change, right, because we see that last year this didn’t work out.”

Leila’s experience of working as a TA also helped her to develop her own ECCE praxis.

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She recalls ,“I learned a lot from them . . . each teacher has different ways of classroom management. . . . The one teacher I took most from . . . I was her assistant and she taught me a lot . . . especially when it comes to classroom management.” These experiences are mirrored by those of Mariam, who also learned much about how to practice ECCE by observing other educators in the classroom.

Despite Leila’s individuated approach to ECCE, she still feels there is academic content that all the children should learn, for example the days of the week that are drilled every morning during circle time: “The child has to know the basics of the days of the week. . . . If someone asks what day, it is very good for them to know what day they are in the week.” An example of the educator’s drilling of days, months and seasons can be seen in this unstructured observation, made on the 10/24/2016,

I arrive 8.20 am for circle time. The teacher is counting the days in the month of

October up to the present time. The children start shouting out numbers

individually and the teacher says, “No, follow my lead.” They start again in a

more orderly manner, all the way up to 24.

This daily focus on the days and months of the year, along with dates and types of weather are standardized across all the classrooms in the kindergarten.

The role of the educator.

When conducting activities such as the counting exercise recounted in the previous section, the educator is constantly scanning the children to see which ones comprehend and which ones appear to be struggling. Leila states, “When I start a new letter or a new number it is explanation time. . . . I make sure everybody is focusing. . . . I make sure not to stay for a long period of time on the same thing…I explain and then . . .

189 show them my pictures.” Leila continues, “I am going from one thing to another to make sure that they are staying focused and interested, and I keep scanning to see who is daydreaming and who is focusing,” Thus, there is a constant dialectical relationship between the overall mood of the class and the educator’s use of content. Leila notes how this constant scanning is draining and the educator’s capacity to carry out her work is sometimes hampered if she is tired or sick, “Sometimes I can be like extremely tired, with like a fever of course you will be like you won’t be able to focus.” However, Leila is committed to her work, explaining “If I wake up tired, once I step inside, I just completely put that aside. Because I get excited to come and see the kids, you know . . . and I just put it behind me and enjoy the day with the kids.” During my observations,

Leila always seemed to energetically engage with the children in her class.

When asked how she knows when she is doing a good job the Leila responded,

“You know when . . . when I see the children interacting in a positive way with me, like that I know that they are happy with what I am doing, you know?” Leila also feels she is succeeding when the children show interest in the subject content, “…[t]hey are interested in what is going on and they come and ask what are we going to do today . . . and basically at the end of the week when I know that they are familiar with what we are doing. . . . That is when I know.” When I asked Leila how she knows when she is not doing a good job, she responded “The opposite, when I am not doing a good job, when they are hectic and I can’t make them focus.” Leila clarifies, “I be like what shall I do. . .

. Why aren’t they listening to me? There is something off . . . I don’t want to tell them to stop but sometimes you have to because they are not listening.” Leila, despite her insight into child-psychology, seems to fear losing control in her classroom; this is perhaps

190 because she herself is the product of a disciplined and academic approach to ECCE. I explore this possibility further in the next section, when I examine Leila’s Habitus.

Habitus.

ECCE and motherhood.

Even though Leila has studied child-psychology and is an experienced ECCE educator, she often feels like she is a mother to the children in her class, noting “I am not a mother, but I feel like a mother in the classroom, more than an educator, because for me, especially with working parents, the child needs a lot of care in the classroom, and we spend a lot of time together, nine months, seven hours a day.” Leila provides an example, “We have an activity with the moms. Before we start I talk to them and I tell them that it is true that they are their mothers, but I am a second mom, here in the class. .

. . I feel that I am like a mom more than an educator.” Both Leila and Mariam stipulate that their ECCE praxis is comparable to motherhood. Such a point of view is also found in the research literature and seems to stem from the position that ECCE is primarily the domain of women and is therefore often viewed as a low status profession (Hannaway,

Steyn, & Hartell, 2014). The head of section in the Kindergarten says that it is difficult to attract male ECCE educators to the school, because the salary is typically too low for them. This position is not explicated in the same way in the two Danish cases in this study, and I posit that in a patriarchal society such as Lebanon such a position is more common and therefore becomes part of the ECCE educators’ professional habitus

(Chrabieh, 2012).

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Play in formal schooling.

As previously noted, Leila makes space for the children to play within the class context, to a greater degree than Mariam, and she feels it is an interesting domain in which to observe the children and get to know their characters. But the educator rarely seems to directly participate in play and she does not seem to view play as a domain where academic learning can actually take place. This is perhaps because in Lebanon there is a culture where play is viewed as being frivolous and unserious (Gopnik, 2009;

Hedge & Cassidy, 2009). Certainly, it is not something Leila discusses with her colleagues, explaining “We never talk about play. . . . We focus more upon the work that should be done in our program. . . . But we don’t talk about play in class . . . I think we should.” Certainly during the course of my data collection I did not often observe any of the ECCE educators directly playing with the children. The TA’s would observe the children during their break-times on the playground and would intervene if there were problems, but they would not be directly involved with the children during playtime. This is contrasted by the praxes of the Danish participants, which we will see later in this chapter. I posit that Leila’s professional habitus also can be discerned when she expresses her perceptions of rules and discipline in the ECCE classroom.

Rules and discipline.

Although Leila tries to avoid shouting at, or chastising the children in her classroom for being disruptive, she does spend considerable time focusing on rules and regulations. As I have already highlighted, Leila grew up in a strict educational environment and she seems to reproduce a strict and disciplined environment in her own classroom: “We talk a lot about rules and regulations so that they get used to what they

192 are supposed to do.” Leila provides the following example, “We have rules that are posted on the walls [see photograph 10], it goes around the whole school . . . use a quiet voice, wait for the teacher to give permission, basic rules which they need to follow.”

Leila’s constant reinforcement of class rules is mirrored by the praxis of Mariam, and is in fact ubiquitous throughout the institution.

Photograph 7

Lebanese Classroom Rules

Leila highlights the fact that these rules need to be constantly reinforced by the educators if they are to be effective, recounting “I have noticed over the years that you have to constantly keep saying these rules and keep saying them every day. . . . I have never tried not saying anything because you have to constantly keep on, you know, repeating.” When asked if the children ever question the rules Leila responded, “No, no they never question those. They know that there are rules in the classroom and that they have to follow them and we start from day one saying those rules.” These comments mirror those of Mariam. In the next section I examine Leila’s perceptions of her interactions with parents at the kindergarten.

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Emerging themes.

Interactions with parents.

Leila did not find it difficult transitioning from her previous position as TA to becoming a KG2 homeroom teacher, recalling “It wasn’t difficult, the only thing is that you have to deal with parents. As an assistant teacher you don’t have any contact with the parents as they refer to the homeroom teacher.” Leila perceives that sometimes dealing with parents can raise difficulties, noting “You have all kinds of parents. And here in

Lebanon you have something that all parents they think that their child is the top of the class. And most of them, if their child faces difficulties, they don’t acknowledge it . . . I find it difficult.” Leila feels that this can make communication with parents difficult, stating “I want to tell them that there is a problem but how can I do that when they tell me that their child is perfect. Thank God I don’t have a lot of problems with the parents.”

According to Leila, parents never want to come and talk to her during her weekly office hours, preferring to try to ask her questions at pick up time. When I asked how many parents had come to see her during office hours, Leila replied that during her time as a homeroom teacher perhaps two parents have requested a meeting with her, the rest would rather try to elicit answers from her when they pick up their children each day. Leila thinks that this is because parents are often themselves very busy.

Leila is a highly competent, capable, engaged and caring ECCE educator. The children in her class are happy to be there, and Leila expends a great deal of energy getting to know the children in her charge. She is good at interpreting their social ques, and adapting her praxis to meet their individual needs. In the next section I will conduct a

194 comparison of the Lived-experiences, Habitus, Perceptions and Praxes of the two

Lebanese Educators.

In-country Cross-case Comparison #1; Mariam and Leila

In this section I conduct my first in-country cross-case comparison, looking at the two cases from Lebanon, Mariam and Leila. I note key similarities between their lived- experiences, praxes, perceptions of ECD and ECCE and their habitus through my use of converging thematic categories. I also draw attention to areas where these two cases differ from each other through my use of diverging thematic categories. It should be noted that I could not identify any qualitatively significant divergences between the professional habitus of Mariam and Leila.

Table 10

Cross-case Comparison #1; Mariam and Leila

A priori Themes Converging Thematic Diverging Thematic Categories Categories Lived-experiences Experiences of shadowing other Experiences of work-placements at teachers before becoming former schools homeroom teacher Praxis Rules and Discipline Diagnostics and Individual Development

Perceptions of ECD and Differentiated Learning and Play ECCE Multiple Intelligences Habitus Child-centeredness and n/a Meritocracy ECCE and Motherhood

Lived-experiences.

What is noticeable about the lived-experiences of Mariam and Leila is that they resemble each other in many ways. Both educators had mothers who were professionally involved in the field of education and both have had comparable educational trajectories.

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Both Mariam and Leila have similarly negative memories of their early experiences of

ECCE. Mariam has distinct memories of crying and today she rationalizes that the system she experienced in her childhood is different to how the system is today. Leila shares

Mariam’s perceptions of her earliest experiences with ECCE, remembering “It is different then, it is stricter.” Both educators enjoyed many aspects of their schooling, but as they grew up and had to sit for the Baccalaureate examinations they both found the experience to be very stressful. Mariam notes, “It was stressful . . . you have to study a lot to do well.” Leila concurs with this sentiment, stating “The stress is awful…just studying overload.” Fortunately for both Mariam and Leila, they successfully passed the governmental exams and went on to study at university. It should be noted that both

Mariam and Leila expressed that passing the Baccalaureate is not easy, and many students do fail every year and have to repeat a year at school, often at a new school, because some schools consider it bad for their reputation to accept students who have failed their governmental examinations. Such a situation only adds to the high-stakes nature of these examinations.

Interestingly, both cases had to complete work-placements as part of their university degrees and both chose to return to their own former schools. However, their experiences of returning to their former schools were different. Mariam recalls having a positive experience during her work-placement: “It was really nice . . . it was like playing the role of the teacher with the students.” Leila felt quite differently about her work- placement at her former school, saying “I did not like the kindergarten.” Despite their different experiences during their work placements, both educators have found it beneficial to watch other ECCE educators at work in the classroom.

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Upon the completion of their university degrees both Mariam and Leila started to work at the kindergarten and have never worked anywhere else. They both started work

TA’s before becoming homeroom teachers and they both feel that they have learned a lot about their profession from being able to watch other practitioners doing their work.

Mariam explains how the teacher she shadowed during her work-experience “…[i]s a role model . . . like I start to adopt her ways.” However, Mariam points out that after initially adopting the practices that she had observed she started to change them, based upon her own classroom experiences. Leila shares Mariam’s sentiment, explaining “I took like lots from each class, you know, and I put it all in my own way.” She continues,

“The one teacher I took most from was the one who taught before me. I was her assistant and she taught me a lot.” There seems to be a common theme here, both educators benefitted from having the opportunity to closely observe other professional educators in action, but they had to internalize these praxes and change them to suit their own personal needs, perceptions and habitus.

Praxis.

Diagnostics and individual development.

The curriculum used at the kindergarten is, in many instances, uniformly applied from KG1 to KG3. The school books used are from the same providers and many of the same educational activities are maintained throughout the kindergarten, such as the use of circle time and the focus on the weather, seasons, months and days of the week in the morning. That said there are subtle variations that can be seen between the praxes of both the educators. Some of these differences can be attributed to the different requirements for the different grade levels. For Mariam the heightened academic requirements that she

197 has to meet at the KG3 level mean that diagnostics play a central role in her praxis.

Mariam is constantly creating learning situations where children, who she judges to be low achievers, have the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities, explaining “The first thing in the morning after they do circle time is putting the words on the board and asking the kids to read. So, with time I get to know more the weakest.” Although Leila also uses similar diagnostic techniques to understand where the children are in relation to their cognitive development, she is seemingly more interested in the individual development of their personalities. She explains, “It is not necessarily that you come and do this program and you have to finish it, you have to deal with them [the children] as human beings as well.” It is not that Mariam does not treat the children in her care as human beings, but

Leila does seem to have an acute sense of the importance of the unique developmental trajectories of young children, and this is probably due to her background in psychology.

Leila notes how she does not feel she could teach without psychology.

Rules and discipline.

Both Mariam and Leila seem to share the same approach to the use of discipline and classroom rules in their praxes. They both consider these issues to be very important and spend considerable time everyday reinforcing their importance on the students.

Mariam says, “Practically every day we talk about rules.” Leila supports this notion, saying “We talk a lot about rules and regulations so that they get used to what they are supposed to do.” Both Mariam and Leila note how classroom rules need constant reinforcement, otherwise the children quickly begin to act in an undisciplined manner.

Leila stipulates, “You have to constantly keep on, you know, repeating.” Mariam notes how she often has to resort to hushing the children to get them to use their quiet voices,

198 claiming “I do that. But I don’t expect them to sit and really shhh. But lower your voice, use a quiet voice.” Neither educator encourages the children to question the nature of the school rules. Mariam says, “They [the children] never question why things are like that”, and Leila mirrors this sentiment, saying “No they never question those. They know that there are rules . . . and we start from day one saying the rules.” In the next section I compare and contrast Mariam and Leila’s perceptions of ECD and ECCE.

Perceptions of ECD and ECCE.

Play.

Despite many overarching similarities between Mariam and Leila they diverge somewhat when it comes to their perceptions of play. Although both of them express an interest in play, Mariam seems to see play as something essentially separate from ECCE, an opportunity for the children to relax, away from the rigors of academic work. She notes, “I feel really happy seeing the kids playing together. . . . To see them really, really, really themselves, really happy. Not that they have to work . . . [or] follow my instructions.” It is for this reason that Mariam also tries to include more play like activities in the classroom. She elucidates, “As much possible . . . I let them do whatever they want to do.” As already noted, there is often not very much time for play based activities, because there are so many academic objectives to be met every week in KG3.

The academic requirements placed upon Leila, although not insignificant, are less than for Mariam, because of the differences in curriculum for KG2 and KG3, and therefore Leila is able to devote more class time to free-play. Given her academic background in psychology, Leila also seems to have an intuitive appreciation for the fact that play is a domain where she can observe and thereby better understand the

199 psychology of each child. As Erikson (1950) noted, play can be the royal road to understanding the child’s psyche. Leila is deeply involved in trying to understand, not just how her children should be learning, but also how they are developing. She clarifies,

“When I observe them while playing they give me much more. You know, I can go deeper and I can figure out how they deal with each other, how they deal with themselves.” Play becomes a forum in which Leila can engage with the children and observe them individually, this is made possible because her academic timetable is less demanding than Mariam’s and it seems clear that if Mariam was afforded the luxury of time she too would include more free-play style activities in her classes. However, neither Mariam or Leila seem to see play as having any value in regards to academic learning, rather the role of play seems to be that it acts as a complement to academic content. Leila states, “You have to make time for them just to play and to be free for a little bit. It helps them out a lot later to focus later on.” Here Leila seems to encapsulate the perspective that play is something ancillary to learning, that play can be used in support of learning, but is essentially separate from it.

Differentiated learning and multiple intelligences.

Despite the relatively uniform requirements of the kindergartens curriculum, both

Mariam and Leila voice the opinion that young children learn in multiple different ways.

Mariam states, “Every child learns in a different way, some . . . [through] hands on activities. Some of them learn through a disciplined way, some through play.” Leila reiterates this idea: “Some kids learn through visual, some through sound, some through kinesthetic, you know each child gets the concept in a different way.” Both the educators seem to align themselves with the popular theoretical work of the developmental

200 psychologist Howard Gardner (2006), who claims, “All of us have the full range of intelligences; that is what makes us human beings, cognitively speaking . . . the intelligences are to a significant extent independent of one another” (p.23). For both

Mariam and Leila there seems to be a fundamental tension between their beliefs in multiple intelligences and the fact that the curricular content they deliver to the children is relatively uniform (differing in terms of the quantity of academic content the children are presented with, but not in its form). The Lebanese kindergarten’s educational approach does seem to be characterized by what Gardner calls the three biases, Westist,

Testist and Bestist, “Westist involves putting certain Western cultural values…on a pedestal…Testist suggests a bias towards focusing on those human abilities or approaches that are readily testable” (pp. 23-24) and Bestist suggests that “All answers to a given problem lie in one certain approach, such as logical-mathematical thinking” (p.

24). This does seem to create tension that Mariam and Leila must negotiate every day.

Mariam articulates, “I believe that play is one of the most important [learning domains] .

. . if it were up to me there would be a lot more play . . . [but] we have a curriculum that we have to follow.” This tension between the needs of the individual child and the demands of the curriculum will be further explored later the next section, where I compare Mariam and Leila’s professional habitus.

Habitus.

Child-centered instruction and meritocracy.

Both Mariam and Leila are products of an education system that seems to be, to use Gardner’s (2006) terminology, westist, testist and bestist. Although they both feel that their field has evolved since they were children, the focus on high-stakes testing,

201 differentiated instruction and a ternary division of abilities (low, average and high achievers) is still present in kindergarten educational practice today. Despite both educators expressing the belief that children learn in a multitude of ways, they still perceive that children’s learning falls into these ternary categories. As already demonstrated, Mariam feels she is quickly able to gauge which of her students fall into these different categories, noting “I can [quickly] see . . . who is academically weak.”

Although experience unquestionably allows ECCE educators to gauge children’s capacities more quickly, it is notable that Mariam utilizes the model for comprehending her children that is mandated by the state and of which she too is a product. Leila, perhaps because of her psychology background, seems to have a slightly different view of children’s learning, but none the less she also seems to reproduce facets of the system of which she herself is a product. This can perhaps best be seen in her behaviorist position on rules and their reinforcement (Skinner, 1976). An example of this can be seen when

Leila says she must constantly reinforce class rules in order for them to be effective.

ECCE and motherhood.

Another interesting point of comparison between Mariam and Leila is that they perceive their praxes in some respects to be an extension of motherhood. Mariam states,

“Sometimes maybe the kid is sick, cranky . . . you have to ask him like a mom. To be a mom.” This sentiment is supported by Leila: “I feel that I am like a mom more than an educator.” No doubt this perspective is effective and it is clear that both Mariam and

Leila take exceptional care of the children in their charge. However, this approach can also be seen as undermining the position of ECCE as a profession in Lebanon, a patriarchal society in which a woman cannot open a bank account for her children

202 without the presence of her husband or father and who cannot pass on her nationality to her own offspring21. It seems that although the lived-experiences of Mariam and Leila have led them to somewhat divergent views on the nature of ECD and ECCE, their perceptions still seem to fall within a range that appear to be determined by the national/subnational context in which they live.

The Setting and Context of the Danish Institution

Background.

The Danish Kindergarten (børnehave) is situated in a suburb of Copenhagen. The institution is lies in the middle of a housing estate, although the institution also attracts families from a more affluent neighborhood a few blocks away. The location and catchment area of the site is such that the children who attend the kindergarten come from a range of social/cultural backgrounds. Therefore, the personnel in the Danish kindergarten have to deal with a range of concrete issues, such as aiding some children to master the Danish language, or helping other children to follow concrete instructions and institutional rules. The kindergarten was built in 1967, initially as a temporary structure that has later been renovated. It is constructed out of wood and has a special modular design, which means that individual sections of the building can easily be removed and replaced without needing to demolish the entire structure (see photograph 11). The history of the kindergarten pre-dates the construction of the current building. Prior to its construction, the kindergarten was housed in an apartment overlooking the current site, and the playground to the current day kindergarten also served as the play-area for the original institution. Until five years ago the kindergarten served children down to the age of 1. Lack of demand meant that this service was phased out. The institution is semi-

21 https://lb.boell.org/en/2015/10/12/lebanese-mothers-give-their-children-life-not-nationality 203 private (selvejende), where the money to run the institution is provided by the municipality of Copenhagen, but the institution has greater control over its own budget, compared to state run kindergartens. However, the institution is still obliged to employ state trained ECCE educators and has to follow the state mandated curriculum

(læreplaner)22.

Photograph 11

The Danish Kindergarten

Although upon construction the kindergarten was an independent organization, five years ago the municipality began the process of organizing smaller ECCE institutions into clusters (klynger).

Today the institution is part of such a cluster, and this entails that the leader of the institution is also the leader of a number of other institutions in the area. Therefore, in the day to day running of the institution there is no permanent leadership onsite. Also, staff meetings are no longer held in house. Instead they are held in conjunction with staff from the other institutions in the cluster at a different location. This organizational structure is still relatively new and it has had a clear influence on the day-to-day running of the institution and on the praxes of the ECCE educators.

22 http://dcum.dk/media/1387/boernemiljoe-laereplan.pdf 204

The building is long and thin, with sliding doors that can allow for the institution to be either open plan or divided into a number of smaller classrooms. There are approximately

44 children, from the ages of 3 to 6, who attend the kindergarten and these children come from an array of social and cultural backgrounds. The institution is staffed by 4 trained

ECCE educators (pædagoger) and 2 assistant educators (pædagogmedhjælper); there is also a chef who is responsible for the preparing food every day for the children and the staff. There is one male assistant educator employed at the institution, the rest of the employees are female. Additionally, at the time of data collection there were 2 students

(pædagogstuderende; preservice educators) working approximately 30 hours per week at the institution23. The students are on their work-placements for 6 months and the kindergarten always tries to have two students employed at a given time, as they provide extra labor at no extra cost to the institution.

The institution conducts little formal tuition, and the majority of academic content is communicated non-formally. The children are divided into two main groups, with each group associated with one of the two large rooms (stue) located at either end of the building. These groups are integrated and contain children from 3-6 years of age. During the course of the day the children are only assembled in these groups at 11 am, where they have circle-time followed by lunch, and at 2 pm where the children come in from the playground for their snack. Each group has two trained ECCE educators and one assistant educator responsible for it. However, the open plan style of the institution means that during a typical day the staff will come in prolonged contact with all the children at the institution, not just the ones associated in their particular group. There are two large

23 http://www.pls.dk/rad-og-vejledning/vejledning/59-rad-og-vejledning/pls-handbog-for-paedagogstuderende/188-arbejdstidsregler- og-afspadsering-pa-bupl-s-omrade 205 unisex bathrooms for the children to use, one at each end of the building (see Appendix

D) and the smaller, intersecting rooms in the middle of the building are equipped with long tables and wooden stools and are primarily used for the formal activities, eating lunch, drawing and playing board games (see photograph 12). When there are no formal activities the institution has a dynamic feel, with the children moving freely about, participating in self-elected activities.

Photograph 9

Danish Institution’s Interior

One of the primary assets of the institution is its large and well-equipped playground (see photograph 10). During the winter months (where this data collection

Photograph 10

The Danish Playground

took place) the children play in the playground for at least two hours a day, between 12 noon and 2 pm, unless there is torrential rain or a blizzard. Most children wear what is known as a flight-suit (flyverdragt) to keep warm and dry when they play outside in the

206 winter months. Sending the children to play outside, even when raining, is common practice in the field of ECCE in Denmark. In the summer months the children spend most of the day outside. In addition to the climbing-frames, swings and sandpit, the playground is also equipped with a bicycle shed, full of an assortment of bikes, scooters and tricycles, age appropriate for the different age ranges at the kindergarten. There is a covered fireplace where the staff can build bonfires (see appendix D), and there is a large collection of milk crates (mælkekasser) that the children use to build towers and castles with (see picture 13).

Daily structure.

Despite the dynamic feel of the institution, each day follows a predetermined pattern. The institution opens at 7 am and the children who arrive this early are served breakfast. Two members of staff (either two ECCE educators or an educator and an assistant educator) are at work from 7 am each day. After eating breakfast, the children are free to choose the type of indoor activity they wish to participate in, this can range from drawing to jumping around in the cushion room (puderum) or dressing up in the dressing up room. The educators are on hand to facilitate these activities, but the first hour and a half are devoted to child-centered activities and play. 9.30 am the rest of the personnel arrive at work and typically at this time there is a quick meeting in the hall, by the events board (tavle: see appendix D), to organize the day’s events and to delegate tasks, particularly in the eventuality of any staff members being absent, for example due to illness. The daily activities are planned 1-2 weeks in advance.

207

Daily activities.

The institution offers a range of different formalized activities during the period of 9.30 am to 11.00 am each day. Typically, at this juncture the children are divided according to their age and developmental level. Activities are organized by the ECCE educators, the assistant educators and the students. In the Copenhagen municipality the professionals working in the field of ECCE (dagtilbud) have freedom of method

(metodefrihed) when conducting their activities, but the content of the activities has to be in line with the overarching goals and objectives set by the state curriculum (see chapter

3). At the kindergarten an attempt is made that each day at least one group of children is taken on a trip (tur). These trips vary in length and destination, from a walk in the local park, a trip to the theater or a day excursion to the forest. For longer trips the chef prepares a picnic for all the children and the staff. Children who stay in-house may participate in art activities; during the data collection, in the run up to Christmas, the creation of Christmas presents was a popular activity. Music and movement (rytmik) is also a popular activity at this institution. Music and movement is an umbrella term for a broad range of activities, from singing and dancing, to playing a game of tag or building an obstacle course. Each educator (because of the freedom of method) has a differing approach to conducting music and movement.

Lunch and playtime.

For those children not on a longer excursion, activities typically end at 11am. At this time the children gather in their groups at either end of the institution for circle-time, while lunch is prepared and the tables are laid (see Appendix D). The children sit in a circle with their educator’s, singing songs or listening to a story. When the food is ready

208 the children sit at the table. The children are typically seated according to their age and an educator is seated at each table with the children. Small signs with the children’s names on them signify where the children are to sit, on the back of the sign is their date of birth

(see photograph 11). Before starting the meal the

Photograph 11

Name Tag

educators typically elicit from the children how to spell their full name (this starts as soon as the children begin in kindergarten) this is usually followed with the children reading out their date of birth. Upon finishing the meal, at approximately 12 noon, the children put on their outdoor clothes and proceed to the playground. Some ECCE educators assist the younger children with going to the toilet and putting their clothes on, while others go outside to invigilate. This is the time where the educators take their break; others start to do some of the practical chores, like washing towels or tidying up.

Afternoon and pickup.

The children come in from the playground at 2pm for a second period of circle time and then they eat a snack (frugt). The educators send the children in from the playground a few at a time and there are other educators waiting for the children in the cloakroom to help the youngest take their clothes off and stow them in their cubby holes

(see photograph 12). The children split into their allocated groups and go down to their designated rooms. The educators lay out blankets for the

209

Photograph 12

Cloakroom

children to lie down on and then they play relaxing music. There is little in the way of digital technology in the institution, but the institution has two iPads that they use to stream music and to take photographs. After 5-10 minutes of relaxation the children in the two groups are divided according to age and fed their snack. While they are eating the educators read stories to their groups. Snack time ends at approximately 2.30pm. At this time many of the children are picked up. The children are now permitted to freely choose their own activities, as in the morning. At 4.00pm the remaining children are fed a second snack, typically a slice of rye bread. The institution closes at 5.00pm.

Alice

Alice is a 59-year-old ECCE educator (pædagog) who has been working at the kindergarten for 17 years. The children in her charge are between 3 and 6 years of age.

She has been working in the field of ECCE for approximately 36 years and during her time at the kindergarten she has asserted a strong influence on the approach to ECCE utilized by the institution. She was born in Denmark, attended school in Denmark and studied ECCE (pædagogik) at teacher’s training college (seminarium) in Denmark. She is a mother and one of her children has attended the kindergarten. Alice is a very experienced, capable and imaginative educator, who tailors her praxis to meet the specific

210 needs of the individual children in her care, while still creating a warm and caring environment for the children. It should be noted that no thematic categories are named for

Leila’s lived-experiences, because I wished to focus upon the totality of her experiences, as she expressed them in the interview data.

Table 11

Alice; Themes and Sub-themes

Themes Thematic Categories Lived-Experiences n/a

Praxis Freedom of Method The Need for Reflection Individuated Praxis

Perceptions of ECD The Needs of the Youngest Children Play The Importance of Home Context

Perceptions of ECCE The Role of ECCE Activities The Physical Setting Gauging the Quality of Praxis

Habitus ECCE as Advocacy Danish ECCE Stimulates Creativity ECCE and Stress

Emerging Themes Use of Theory

Lived-experiences.

Alice is a 59-year-old woman who was born in on the island of Lolland, south of the capital Copenhagen, in “A small fishing village. . . . I was born with a mother and a father and a sister who is 10 years older than me.” She grew up on a small holding with her father both working as a farmer and as a fishmonger. Her sister went into service at a local farm at a young age and “…[q]uite quickly got pregnant, she had a child, my niece,

211 and for me there is only 7 years between us . . . she got married to a man who was not very kind to her. . . . when he drank he beat her.” Alice started 1st grade when she was seven years old. She does not have positive memories of her first year in school and early on was labelled as suffering from dyslexia, recalling “It is a different time today, so when we had Danish I sat at the back of the class and when we had mathematics I sat at the front of the class. Good pedagogy right?” Because of her negative experiences, Alice would often skip school and hide in a local forest. Alice found school to be difficult and occasionally abusive, with her classmates sometimes being beaten by the school teacher, although the educator notes that she herself was never physically abused by her school teacher.

While still young, Alice became responsible for many of the chores at home, because her mother was ill. Alice elaborates, “From about the age of 12 I was responsible for the bulk of the housework.” None-the-less she feels that she was well cared for while she was growing up, but having an ill mother meant that throughout her childhood Alice had many responsibilities around the home. Alice’s mother had given birth to a still-born son prior to her birth. Alice feels that this loss meant, “I was expected to be a bit of a boy for my dad. I was supposed to take over the fishmonger business from my father.” There were no books in her home and as a child Alice was not encouraged to read. She remembers, “I was never allowed to read at home . . . books didn’t exist there, at most a newspaper.” According to Alice her father frowned upon reading, and felt that if you were not using your hands you were being lazy.

Upon the completion of 7th grade it was determined that Alice would continue her studies at a technical college (teknisk skole). This was a positive experience for her: “I

212 loved it. There I met people that gave me a big push forwards.” During 7th grade Alice’s father also became ill and eventually was granted an invalidity pension by the state. In addition, her sister was in an abusive relationship, with a husband who drank and would physically abuse her. These events culminated in Alice being assigned a social worker by the municipality, despite initial resistance from her family. In addition to being provided with counseling services by the social worker she was also granted funds to help pay for school books and other necessities. Alice remembers it being a relief having someone to confide in, “It was great to be able to talk freely about what was going on in my life.”

Alice’s social worker seems to have had a formative influence on Alice and encouraged her to continue with her education, which facilitated Alice coming in contact with the field of ECCE.

Alice’s first contact with the field of ECCE came when she had turned 18. She was attending a six-month placement at a housekeeping school, but after clashing with some of the younger teachers she was given a short work-placement in a kindergarten situated next to the school. She views this experience now as being very positive, and she discovered that she enjoyed working with ECCE. Upon the completion of this work- placement, Alice decided not to move home, but instead moved in with her boyfriend and got a job as a kitchen assistant (køkkenassistent) in an ECCE institution. Alice enjoyed working in this institution and showed such an aptitude for working with ECCE that the head of the kindergarten persuaded her to study to become a trained ECCE educator.

Alice had strong reservations about further education, because of her negative experiences in formal education. But the appeal of working with ECCE was strong enough to overcome these reservations.

213

At this time, Alice moved into a commune (kollektiv) together with three others and started attending teacher training college. During her second year of studying she formed strong friendships with a number of other female students, remembering “The second and third years I remember well because I was together with this group of girls . .

. we would go to their houses and do our school work and have fun together . . . today you would probably called it a study group.” She formed a particularly close friendship with a girl who lived with her in the commune and they wrote a lot of their school papers together. This was a positive experience for Alice, because her friend was “…[v]ery good at writing . . . I was good at reading, I was good at reflecting upon what I read and somehow connecting it to something tangible and work related. So, in this way we helped each other.” Such a scenario allowed Alice to contribute and be successful during her training.

During her studies, Alice’s thinking was influenced by the theoretical material she was exposed to at the teacher’s training college. She recalls, “Some of the stuff that I thought was very exciting was . . . Marxist orientated . . . all that about being highly structured and how you should show, how to pave a road and how to milk a cow and all these things.” Alice was also influenced by emancipatory pedagogy, noting

“Emancipatory pedagogy was very much based upon the use of project based learning programs, what we today call following in the child’s footsteps.” These two theoretical models have both had an influence on how the educator thinks about ECCE. Alice elucidates, “I am probably a product of these two schools of thought.” Alice feels that

ECCE educators are responsible for providing learning content for the children, but they also have to be able to adapt their praxis to meet the needs of the child.

214

During her studies Alice completed three work-placements. The final work- placement, a nursery (vuggestue), offered her a permanent job before she was even finished with her final exam. Since then, Alice has worked in a number of different early childhood institutions, before coming to her current job, remembering “I was headhunted for this place as the deputy head [souschef].” The educator lives in close proximity to the kindergarten and notes how this is something that she enjoys, explaining “I like that I am working in my own community. I really like working in my community, I think that there is a great deal of respect for what I do.” In the next section I look at how Alice works with ECCE by examining her approach to ECCE praxis.

Praxis.

Alice is an ECCE educator who currently works with children aged 3 to 6. Alice has many years of experience working in the field of ECCE, she is able to work in a number of different capacities at the institution and is often called upon to perform administrative tasks in the absence of a permanent leadership figure at the institution.

Alice particularly enjoys working with music and movement (rytmik).

Freedom of method.

Although the ECCE educators at the kindergarten are obliged to follow the guidelines stipulated by the state curriculum, the practitioners at the ECCE center enjoy freedom of method. Alice explains, “Copenhagen permits freedom of method. They require that we live up to their curricular requirements, but they do not tell us how this is to be achieved, so how we achieve the different goals is up to us.” Alice feels that freedom of method is important to her praxis and would not like to have a stricter curriculum imposed upon her. However, freedom of method does pose challenges in the

215 day to day running of the kindergarten. Alice states, “It is quite a schism sometimes right? It is easier if we say you are going to do this, this and this right? Instead of thinking for yourself and saying we will do it like this and this will happen.”

For Alice, freedom of method poses organizational challenges at the institutional level, as it is not always easy to know what the other members of staff are doing. As an example of the problems that can be caused by freedom of method, Alice recalls an incident where a new member of staff was running a project “Rooted in the idea of children drawing self-portraits.” The goal of the activity was to have the children look at themselves in a mirror and try to draw their own portrait. However, the more experienced staff members had not properly informed the new member of staff of the goals and objectives of the activity. Alice recalls, “So “**** had just thought that you could take a paper plate, draw a circle on it, draw eyes because we had not properly informed her, right?” Alice feels that with a more formalized syllabus such issues could not arise. Still, she makes it clear that she is not interested in taking on a more traditional teacher role in the ECCE institution.

It is Alice’s view that for freedom of method to be an effective approach to

ECCE, the practitioner has to have garnered a degree of experience, clarifying “I think that if you look at the way in which I do music and movement and you then watch **** do music and movement, then you would see a big difference, because I have more experience.” Alice is very capable of conducting music and movement and seems able to access an endless stream of songs, rhymes, stories and interactive games that she can use to engage the children. This can be seen in the following activity taken from an unstructured observation conducted on the 9/11/16:

216

Alice has a conga that she uses, she plays a rhythm and says “Batman”, the

children repeat, then she says “Tarzan” and “Superman.” Alice beats the drum

and the children go through a number of different movements, they crawl, jump,

run, and hop, and then, in between, they have to be completely still and silent.

Alice is constantly finding ways of incorporating the children’s input into activities. This is possible because many of her activities are open ended and can use an array of input from the child. An example is a song that focuses on parts of the body. While Alice plays the drum she asks the students which part of the body the song should focus on next, such as the face, the arms and knees. If the children struggle, Alice supports them in making a choice,

Alice asks the children what the activity should be. Some children find it hard so

Alice helps them. She gets out some colored fabric squares circles and triangles

and Alice elicits their form and color from the children. The children choose a

shape and color and sit on their own little mat.

Alice uses small egg-shaped shakers to great effect as a part of this activity. Although the children enjoy this activity as a game, the activity appears to be good for developing fine and gross motor skills and allowing the children to experiment with gravity,

Alice then hands out shakers to all the children. All the children shake the shakers

and try to sing along to a song that Alice instigates. Then the children are

encouraged to drop the eggs from a height. After this the children have to try and

maintain balance as they stand on the mats on one leg, while shaking their eggs.

Alice utilizes many different props during the course of this activity,

217

Alice gets a large container of horse chestnuts from outside, and pours the

contents on the floor. The children are permitted to play with them in any way

they see fit. Alice asks “Can you push them around? Can you lie down on them?

Do they hurt when you walk on them? Are they warm or cold? They are cold

because they have been outside and it is winter.” The children get mats and place

chestnuts all the way around them [see figure 5]. When the mat is removed there

is only the shape left by the chestnuts.

Figure 6. Observer’s Rendition of Chestnuts and Mat.

Alice insists that the children spend time cleaning up after the activity. She does not seem to mind that this final part of her activity takes time. Instead she allows the children time to experiment with different ways of cleaning up the chestnuts that cover the floor,

One child puts the chestnuts on a mat, lifts the mat up and pours the chestnuts on

his own head. The educator is very supportive and open to all the children's

experiments. The children find some very creative ways of collecting the

chestnuts, such as pushing the mats around like brooms. Finally, Alice gets a large

broom to help the children.

218

The need for reflection.

The use of freedom of method as an organizational principle for ECCE is not without challenges, and in fact it is not universally embraced by all municipalities in

Denmark. Alice noted how, “The Gladsaxe municipality works in a completely different fashion, with something called DAP [Developmentally Appropriate Practice].” However, the Copenhagen municipality requires that ECCE practitioners live up to their educational goals, but do not tell them how these goals are to be achieved. This lack of an incremental curriculum has implications for how ECCE educators conduct their praxis and this in turn has organizational consequences for the kindergarten. Since the kindergarten was amalgamated with the cluster (klynge) there have been no formal educator meetings, where the educators can discuss praxis. Alice stipulates that reflection

(refleksion) is a central component of ECCE in Denmark and necessary if high-quality praxis is to take place. Alice sees it as a problem that time is not made available for the staff at the kindergarten to reflect, noting “We are just lacking the time to collectively reflect on our praxis together.” Alice views the need for reflection time as being crucial to her praxis, because “There is no checklist which allows me to say that I am doing this or that”, so therefore Alice is of the opinion that reflection time is of vital importance to her

ECCE praxis

The educators do have one meeting space where they have time to sit down and talk to each other about their work, when the staff from the cluster holds its coordination meetings (personale møde). These meetings are supposed to take place every month, but when I arrive in November they have not had a meeting since September. I was allowed to participate in such a meeting on the 21-11-2016, and I carried out an unstructured

219 participant observation of the event. Basma, the second Danish research participant, was also present at this meeting. The meeting was primarily intended as a forum where the different institutions in the cluster shared information about important issues that impact the whole cluster. However, given the lack of reflection time in the day to day life of the kindergarten, at this meeting other issues arose,

Alice and Basma state that there needs to be time to discuss a child. Basma tells

of a girl who was sent back from school because she was deemed as being

unprepared to start formal schooling. There is a lack of a clear diagnosis on the

child’s condition, and instead the educators use quite broad terms when describing

the child’s behavior. There is an agreement that educators should be more clear

(tydelig) in their interactions with the girl.

During this meeting the leader of the cluster announces that he plans to introduce bi- weekly meetings in the individual institutions, so that the practitioners will have time to collectively reflect on their praxes. Alice views this as a positive development.

Individuated praxis.

What seems to be particularly advantageous with freedom of method is that it provides the individual practitioner with the autonomy to tailor praxis to meet the individual developmental and learning needs of the children. To facilitate individuated praxis the children are typically divided into smaller working groups. Alice stipulates,

“You cannot do pedagogical work with 22 children when you are alone, then it becomes more like proper formal instruction and less like pedagogy.” Alice advocates for dividing the children up according to age. Alice sees it as part of her job to observe the individual development of the children and tailor her activities and interactions to correspond to

220 these specific needs: “If we see a child who is not playing with the others, that has poor motor-skills, or poor language development then we have to make a plan for an intervention, myself and my colleagues, we create some activities which stimulate the child in the necessary developmental domains.” It is freedom of method that allows Alice to construct and carry out such interventions, tailored to the needs of the individual child.

The need for an individuated approach to ECCE is, according to Alice, rooted in the idea that all children learn in different and unique ways. She believes, “Different people learn in different ways, some learn with their body, some learn visually or auditory and some have a mixture.” This leads Alice to conclude, “I feel our approach allows children to learn irrespective of their strengths.” The fact that the state curriculum only provides broad themes to which praxis should conform means that often learning situations arise spontaneously from the interactions between the educator and the children. Alice explains, “I think I am constantly trying to capture their interest with some learning content, but it is not easy. Like I said to you, you cannot capture the attention of 22 children when you are one adult.” For Alice, learning situations often arise in spontaneous ways, leading to unique and complex modes of knowledge transfer, with broad social and academic implications. She states “If we dig up a worm then we should take it and ask what do worms eat?” Such explorations can lead to many interesting questions, like “What is a worm? Is it a fruit? Is it an animal? We can go all the way down to that level right? Who eats worms? Can we eat them?” The ECCE educator plays a central role in this approach to education: “It is us adults that should try to put such questions to the children, what happens when you put it in a glass of water. . . . What happens if we step on it? This is probably not the first I do, probably other things first,

221 right?” In this way, organizing themes such as body and movement, or nature and its phenomena can serve as the foundation for children’s explorations and emerging understandings of their social and physical environment24. This is what makes working in the kindergarten interesting for Alice, that the work constantly evolves dependent upon her interactions with the children. In the next section I explore how Alice perceives the interests and responses of the children in her care, by examining her perceptions ECD.

Perceptions of ECD.

As has already been shown, Alice considers each child to have a unique developmental trajectory and that they learn in different ways. Alice’s view of ECD seems to have implications for how she approaches her praxis.

The needs of the youngest children.

Alice states that it is the youngest children who require the most care and attention, noting “The age group that we have here, I feel that the youngest are in greatest need of the presence of a grownup. . . . And that has something to do with their ability to help themselves.” It is not only the youngest children’s need for help with practical tasks that Alice focuses on. She notes, “You can also say that the youngest have a problem decoding the signals of the others . . . it is important that we adults are present to help the children resolve this and understand that this is not how we do things here.” In such scenarios it is the educator’s job to not only help the children with practical tasks and to resolve potential conflicts, but also to act as a role model for future behaviors: “The youngest boys that we have now they had no idea how to build a train track. So [I] showed them how. . . . When I have built this train track five times perhaps they can take

24 http://www.bupl.dk/paedagogik/laering/paedagogiske_laereplaner?opendocument

222 the initiative themselves and build it.” Such activities do not always run according to plan and the educator, particularly with the younger children, has to constantly be prepared to adapt their approach in light of developments. Alice recalls, “That train is going around and around, then they disagreed about whether it should drive the one way or the other.

So, they conflict and it is my job to mediate.” When it comes to the rules that are enforced at the kindergarten, Alice feels that it is important to differentiate between the younger and the older children. In the next section I will examine Alice’s perceptions of play in ECCE.

Play.

Play is an important component of the ECCE practiced at the kindergarten. Every day, from 7.00-9.30am and again from 2.00-5.00pm, time is allotted to the free-play of the children, and at these times educators will both instigate and participate in the games of the children. Alice believes that children have a natural desire to play, noting “I think that everybody wants to explore and experiment and such like. . . . It is like they are raised to be able to do it” Although the children at the kindergarten are capable of self- directed play, Alice has specific view of play, expressing “Play is something that the children themselves can initiate . . . play is something that I can instigate, for me it is something about accompanying the child, standing . . . in front of the child, next to the child or behind the child.” Alice feels that play is not always easy for adults to be able to negotiate and different practitioners respond differently to the phenomenon of child’s play: “I think we differ as individuals, because it requires for example that you dare, like you say, play the clown a bit.” This can, according to Alice, be seen in the behavior of some of the students that do their work-placements at the kindergarten. Alice elucidates,

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“That is something that I often experience when we have students, that they ooooh they find it difficult to begin with.” It is not only students who can find it difficult. Alice feels that it can also be difficult for new members of staff, but through experience educators learn to engage in such practices. She states, “I can sense that here where there are a number of us who have been together for a number years, if I start a game of pirates out there then I am sure that **** will come and participate as well.” In the next section I will explore how Alice perceives the importance of the child’s background, and the role it plays in ECCE.

Importance of the home context.

To understand the individual developmental trajectories of the children, Alice expresses that it is important for the ECCE practitioner to have an understanding about the child’s family background. She believes, “You have to see what kind of family background each child has. You have to draw some causal lines back to the family.” For

Alice, this process is sometimes facilitated by the fact that the educators have also looked after the children’s older siblings: “We can see that we have one who is here now, right?

We have had his big brother, so we know the family a little bit, right?” Alice posits that different familial backgrounds can often give rise to differing modes of social behavior with the children.

Alice also notes that it is important for educators to actively engage with the parents, stating “You can understand the child better if you talk to the parents, about what they do at home.” However, including the parents in the day to day running of the kindergarten is not always easy with time often being a limiting factor: “I would sometimes wish that we had more time to involve the parents in what we are doing.”

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Alice provides a concrete example, “Here where we have some children who are trying to learn Danish, it would be great if we could get the parents along so that we could say to them that it would be a good idea to do such and such at home, in their language.” Some parents do approach the educators about the development of the children and Alice accepts that part of her job as an ECCE educator is also to provide advice for parents, claiming “The parents take up more space in the daily life of the institution than they used to. They also, we are asked to give more advice on the children . . . and I think that is perfectly fine.” However, the educator does feel that sometimes the parents take up too much time, particularly when they fixate on trivialities: “Sometimes they come and ask about where their children’s slippers are, ‘yes, how about you try and have a look around right?’ Because we do not always know where their children’s slippers are.” This example seems to demonstrate the fact that Alice has very clear ideas about the scope of her work as an ECCE practitioner. In the next section I look more closely at Alice’s conception of her work by examining her perceptions of ECCE.

Perceptions of ECCE

The contours of the day to day working life in the kindergarten seem to be characterized by the freedom of method afforded to the practitioners and egalitarian relationships between the children and staff members in shifting constellations. Alice characterizes her day to day experiences by saying, “Each day is different, depending upon which children are here, and which staff is here, what time I am due to come to work, you do not know how many children there will be or how many staff are coming.”

To navigate such an open and fluid working environment it is important for ECCE

225 practitioners to have clear perceptions of their own role and the nature of ECCE

(pædagogik).

The nature of ECCE.

Alice sees the Danish tradition of ECCE (pædagogik) as arising from the way in which Danish society is organized, claiming “It is the way in which we have organized our society that requires children to be in kindergarten. . . . Pedagogy [ECCE] exists because . . . children [have] to all be sent somewhere together, away from home.” ECCE in Denmark is viewed as being separate from the formal education and there are minimal academic requirements imposed upon ECCE educators. Alice highlights this issue when she talks about the goal of ECCE: “It is about…each child has a day that somehow enriches them . . . that they are happy, that they learned something perhaps.” Alice has a complex view of what constitutes learning in ECCE, stating “Of course learning is important, it is learning to put your trousers on by yourself, for example.” For Alice,

ECCE praxis requires a holistic approach to help children to attain the skills that they need, such as putting on trousers.

Alice believes that to be able to achieve these ECCE goals requires the educator to take on a role, expressing “My role is to be together with the children, to carry out activities, or just be there and see what happens, it can also be doing observations. So my role as a pedagogue is to see if there are any children that are not thriving.” Alice highlights the fact that she does not have a diagnostic role when she conducts her observations, “It is not my job to provide a diagnosis in any way. For that you need experts from outside. But if I have some children who are not thriving then it is my job to bring in any help that I require.” Alice continues, “My role is also to guide parents, to

226 support them . . . our job is to provide care and affection.” In the next section I will explore Alice’s perceptions of activities in ECCE.

Activities.

The daily activities play a key role in the praxis of Alice and her colleagues. It is during these activities that Alice feels educators can really garner an in depth understanding of where each child is developmentally. She states “…[o]n the playground there are more children, when you do music and movement [rytmik] you have a smaller group of children, so you can focus more on where each child is in regards to the development of motor-skills.” According to the educator, these in depth interactions that take place during activities can serve as the foundation for new, tailored activities, designed to support the development of individual children. Alice clarifies, “Like one child here . . . he cannot figure out how to walk on a straight line. So then we need to introduce some games . . . we create some activities that challenge him in regards to this issue of walking on a straight line.”

Such a use of activities as a domain where the educators can establish close relationships with the children and observe their individual development is common practice, not just for Alice, but for all the staff at the kindergarten. In this way, despite the seeming fluidity of the working environment, there is a common mode of praxis that characterizes the institution. Alice perceives, “There are somethings that are part of our culture and we try to keep that. But within that culture there is space for new ideas.” This freedom of method is often appealing to student pedagogues, “We let them try out their ideas. As long as it does not have a negative impact on the children they are permitted to

227 try out their ideas. And the rest of us learn from this.” In the next section I will explore

Alice’s perceptions of the physical setting and its ramifications for ECCE.

Physical setting.

It is not only the shifting constellations of children and staff that set the contours of daily praxis at the kindergarten, Alice also attributes an important role to the physical setting, stating “I really like all the small rooms because it gives a number of possibilities to sit and play in small groups, so it is not just one large space . . . they can retreat to the depot and play there if they so choose.” According to Alice there are a number of advantages to their building’s design, such as “…[t]he noise levels don’t get too bad, compared to if we were all in one room, right? And you can split the children up when you are eating so you are not sitting on top of each other.” The different sections of the building can be partitioned off using sliding doors. Alice notes, “You can close them off.

It can feel like one institution or lots of small rooms, right. . . . So the parents don’t just come into a classroom, but rather a whole institution.” The size of the building requires that the educators are creative in their utilization of space: “This is not a big room where we can do music and movement [rytmik] . . . here everything is on wheels so you can move it to make space. And you can say that it requires a bit of work.” The physical setting takes time for people to adapt to, and Alice feels that you need experience to be able to utilize it effectively, expressing “I believe that it is easier if you have been here for a while…you have to be creative . . . it takes a while to build up these routines.” In the next section I will explore how Alice thinks about gauging the quality of her praxis.

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Gauging quality of praxis.

Given the complex and fluid nature of ECCE in the Danish kindergarten, it can perhaps be hard to know when praxis is having the desired results and educational/developmental goals are being met. Alice feels she knows when she is doing a good job when “…[t]he children come to the kindergarten with happy looks on their faces and say my name.” It is not necessarily about having the planned activities going strictly according to plan, but rather “It is about being together with your colleagues, it is about being together with the children.” For Alice, the response of the parents is also an important indicator of the success of praxis: “I think that we have a group of parents who are good at coming and telling us that we are doing a good job.” Alice adds that many parents now use the internet as a space where they voice their praise of the Danish ECCE educators’ work.

When asked how she knows when she has not being successful in her approach,

Alice explained, “At present I cannot think of a single time where I had a bad day with the children.” She continues, “I can easily think of examples of a bad day with my colleagues, or a bad day where I like think “fuck I forgot to say something important to the parents.” I can beat myself up over something like that”, but Alice has never felt that she has failed with the children. In fact, Alice feels that if she has done a bad job then it is often “…[d]own to the physical boundaries of the place…that can lead to a bad day where I think oh I did not manage to do that with the kids today.” Many of Alice’s perceptions of the field of ECCE seem to be rooted in her own lived-experiences. I will explore this in greater detail in the following section, where I will examine Alice’s habitus.

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Habitus.

Alice is an experienced and capable ECCE educator with many years of experience to draw upon. Despite this experience, there are parts of her praxis that seem to me to be rooted in her habitus, which have a direct influence upon how she perceives

ECCE and how she responds to daily life at the institution.

ECCE as advocacy.

Alice makes reference to a number of negative experiences she personally had during her time in the formal education. These negative experiences are perhaps exemplified by her Danish high-school teacher, who “…[t]old me that I would never amount to anything because I could not spell.” Such experiences seem to have led Alice to adopt a form of praxis that does not exclude or marginalize children based upon a perceived lack of competence, but rather tries to utilize an individuated approach which

“…[a]llows children to learn, irrespective of their strengths.” In fact Alice sees child advocacy as a central component of her praxis, explaining “The role of the pedagogue is that, irrespective of what children we are dealing with, we have to help them to take the next step.” To achieve this Alice feels, “Our point of departure is the individual child and then we go up.” Thereby, ECCE praxis for Alice focuses upon the unique developmental trajectories of each child in the kindergarten.

To be able to help all children to take the next step requires care. As seen previously, Alice feels that she grew up in a household where, despite many problems, she was given much care and affection. Alice also provides much care and affection to the children in her care, although she uses less overt displays of affection than were seen with the two Lebanese cases. On the subject of care, Alice states “It is a big part of what

230 we do. The children cannot go out without us first telling them what they should wear. . .

. That is also care. It is also care when you give them something to drink.” She continues,

“It can be a hug, it can be a kiss, it can be, depending on the age of the child, again it involves looking at the individual child . . . [and] I think that it is different from pedagogue to pedagogue.” Alice, through her childhood interactions with her social worker, experienced the assistance of a professional that helped her to take the next step, and it seems that linkages can be made between these experiences and how she herself views ECCE praxis: “The primary concern for me in pedagogy is that they develop the required competences, so that when they are finished in kindergarten they are ready to move forward in the Danish society.” In the next section I will explore how Alice perceives the Danish model of ECCE as being uniquely beneficial for children, and how this can be viewed as arising from her professional habitus.

Danish ECCE stimulates creativity.

Alice is an advocate for Danish ECCE (pædagogik) and sees it as being a singularly beneficial approach to early learning. For her, more traditional modes of ECCE can have negative consequences: “Yes I think that you can also stifle their autonomy, if you sit in rows. . . . I think maybe you are actually hampering their ability to take the initiative.” Alice thinks that the Danish model of ECCE is good at fostering autonomy and creativity, positing “I think that Danish kindergartens are good at creating environments where such abilities are fostered…they learn here that it is ok to employ your imagination.” Alice continues by saying “This is about daring to explore and experiment. But if they were very used to following a strict line, or some specific ways of doing things then it can be hard to break out of that framework and really experiment

231 with things.” However, Alice does admit that she does not know of research that supports this assertion, asking “Are there any studies that show Danish children are good at inventing? I do not know how they think about the child in other countries, if they think

‘I just need to teach them some stuff’. . . . I do not know.” In the next section I will explore how Alice views stress in the ECCE environment and how it connects to her professional habitus.

ECCE and stress.

Working in a fluid social environment, with complex social relationships, concrete educational goals to be met and educational activities to be conducted, is not always easy and can often lead to stress amongst ECCE educators working in Denmark25.

Alice recounts how coworkers have at times struggled with stress, saying “If I think about **** who is…an excellent pedagogue. . . . There were some things in her life that meant that she got sick with stress . . . you could say why did she suffer from stress to the point nowhere she got sick and not me?” Alice attributes her own resilience to the many challenges that she experienced growing up, explaining “I think I have a bit of fight in me, right. Even though there is a teacher standing there telling me that I will never amount to anything because I cannot spell then I will show society that I am good for something.” Alice continues, “I think I must have gotten it from my father, because he was also someone who would say ‘ok, maybe I cannot do everything, but I am good at something’, and that stays with you.” Alice is in fact good at many things; in particular she has, despite her own negative experiences in formal education, a strong grasp of

ECCE theory, which she utilizes in her daily praxis. I explore this issue further in the next section by examining Alice’s use of theory.

25 Retrieved from: http://www.jyskborneforsorg.dk/fileadmin/files/aarsskrift-2014-web_ekstra.pdf 232

Emerging themes.

Use of theory.

Alice had a number of difficulties during her formal schooling, to a degree that there was once a time where she felt “I would never go back to school to study anything with books.” However, in her current praxis Alice often uses ECCE theory to guide her actions. When asked about the origins of the content in her music and movement activity,

Alice said “It is from my habitus, my backbone.” Alice uses theory to help her understand the nature of the field that she works in, and she says, “If you look at the work of theoreticians from one country to the next, there are many that have written about pedagogy . . . what is learning, where do we learn, how much do we learn and when do we stop learning and do we ever stop learning.” Alice seems to constantly be questioning her own praxis and the theories that undergird it. She describes “I think sometimes about the idea of the competent child, I mean what is a competent child even?” Alice characterizes her own use of theory, explaining “Certainly, I . . . pick a bit from here and a bit from there. I mean, some use straightforward pedagogy, but I do not. I mean I picked a bit here and a bit there.” When I asked if this ever led to confusion, given the complex nature of some theories Alice replied, “I feel that when I take something from somewhere then I should be able to argue why I have done so.” One of the reasons that

Alice enjoys having students is that they can keep her abreast of new theories in the field of ECCE: “That is why I have students, because I feel that I like to follow what is going on in the field, theoretically, what new knowledge is being produced.” Given the constant presence of students at the kindergarten, and the six-month duration of work-placements,

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Alice is constantly exposed to new ideas coming from the Danish teacher training colleges.

Alice is a committed, experienced, and highly competent ECCE educator. She is constantly thinking about the nature of her own praxis and trying to improve, or incorporate new ideas into how she engages with her work and the children in her care, and she adeptly incorporates input of the children into her adult led activities.

Basma

Basma is a 49-year old ECCE educator (pædagog) who has been working at the kindergarten for 8 months. The children in her charge are between 3 and 6 years of age.

She has been working in the field of ECCE for approximately 20 years and completed her training as an ECCE educator 8 months prior to data collection. She was born in Pakistan, attended school in Pakistan until 1982, when she and her family moved to Denmark. She is a mother of five and a caring, engaged and enthusiastic practitioner, who draws upon her own experiences of immigrating to Denmark, particularly when she deals with the many bilingual families who utilize the center. It should be noted that no thematic categories are named for Leila’s lived-experiences, because I wished to focus upon the totality of her experiences, as she expressed them in the interview data. Additionally, it should be noted that I failed to identify any concrete emerging themes from Basma’s data. Instead, both the interview and observational data yielded rich thematic material that was in alignment with my a priori themes.

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Table 12

Basma; Themes and Sub-themes

Themes Thematic Categories Lived-Experiences n/a

Praxis A Typical Day Music and Movement

Perceptions of ECD An Outside View on Danish ECD Play Gender

Perceptions of ECCE Growth in Confidence Interactions with Children Freedom of Method

Habitus Assimilation of Danish ECCE Culture Discipline

Emerging Themes n/a

Lived-experiences.

Basma was born in Pakistan in what was a small village. Her father was an architect who specialized in building bridges. Basma is one if five siblings, with three brothers and a sister. All her siblings today live in Denmark. Her father came to work in

Denmark in 1969, and Basma notes, “He was amongst the first of the guest workers

[gæste arbejder26] . . . and after one year my brother came to stay with him. He invited my brother to come to Denmark.” Basma remembers how she did not begin to attend school in Pakistan until she was six years old: “In Pakistan, back then, there was not the

26 The term gæste arbejder refers to those foreign nationals who moved to Denmark during the 1960’s for work 235 tradition for girls to be in school.” So before beginning school, Basma spent a number of years playing with the other children who lived in her street: “Yes, I played a lot with all my girl-friends [veninder] because the area in which I lived, or the street on which we lived there were 4-5 families [inaudible] and we played together.” There was also a teacher who lived on her street who Basma had a close relationship with. Basma recalls,

“I was very attached to her. Her and her brother, I was very fond of them . . . they did not have any small children and they were all big, so they felt that I was part of the family.”

When playing with her friends Basma recalls how “We would sit and sew dolls. . . . We also played a lot with jump rope and we also had a tennis ball and some rocks which we lay down and we had to bounce the ball and collect as many stones as we could.” When asked if she had to do many house chores during her childhood Basma replied, “Not at my house. But I was really good at helping the others. . . . I would just go into their houses and ask do you need anything from town?” When asked why she did not do this at her own home Basma explained that her mother did not want her to work as a child, but rather Basma was encouraged to play until she started formal schooling.

Basma was approximately “5 or 6” years of age when she started school. She would walk to school with the other girls from her street. The school she attended was a large state run girls-school. Basma has very positive memories of her early school years, recalling “I loved school. I was just wild about school.” There is a particular reason why she was so fond of attending school, Basma notes how “In my country there is a tradition that one is chosen from the class who is in charge. . . . It was me. So that I remember I was very proud.” Despite positive memories, Basma recalls that the school she attended was quite strict, “There was a lot of discipline and there still is in our high schools. There

236 was a lot of discipline and there had to be clean clothes, if the students do not have immaculately clean clothes then they would be beaten.” Sometimes the teachers would check the children’s bags, and if a bag was not suitably organized the child would be punished. In primary school Basma’s favorite subjects were math, Urdu and Islamic studies. Basma also enjoyed transitioning to high school, but found it more challenging, noting “There were more demands in high school…there was a lot of focus on English and Persian and Urdu . . . and religion, it was also very important.” The educator recalls how during high-school there was special focus on the study and memorization of the

Koran, stating “You had to remember all the small verses. You have to remember them off by heart, you have to remember the whole thing and if you do not you get a beating.”

Corporal punishment seems to have been commonplace at Basma’s schools in Pakistan.

In 1982 Basma’s father moved the whole family to live with him in Denmark.

Basma was 14 when she first came to Denmark and at her father’s insistence immediately continued her schooling there. Basma was not eligible to start in high school (folkeskole) and instead was sent to a language school, which she really enjoyed, recalling “I loved it,

I loved going to school. And luckily we got some teachers who were kind.” Due to the fact that the other students at the language school came from many different countries around the world, Basma did not feel that coming to Denmark was a culture shock, revealing “If it had been a state school that I started then I would have felt the difference, but I started at a language school.” At the language school there were students from many different countries, and Basma feels that the multinational makeup of the classes, coupled with the help of supportive teachers, eased her adaption to the Danish society.

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When Basma finished her schooling in Denmark she had to start work, because her father had left her family and so she needed to have an income. Basma’s first contact with the field of ECCE came when she was on a work-placement after finishing her first maternity leave: “The job center sent me as part of an activation program [aktivering]. It was a nursery (vuggestue), I thought it was really lovely…that is where I first thought about studying to be a pedagogue.” However, at this time her husband purchased a kiosk and Basma went to work there instead. A number of years later, after giving birth to her youngest child Basma started as a cleaner at a kindergarten in the center of Copenhagen:

“After 3 months they wanted a kitchen assistant. So, I worked in their kitchen, after 3 or 4 months I was employed as an ECCE assistant [pædagogmedhjælper].” Basma worked as an ECCE assistant for approximately 2 years.

Basma decided that she wanted to formalize her connection to the field of ECCE, so she decided initially to complete the ECCE assistant training. The reason for not studying to be an ECCE educator at this time was that she did not feel that she could afford to be a student for that length of time. Basma explains, “I have a big family I have to provide for, so because of the economy I felt that I should train to be an educator. That takes 3 years, or 3½ years, and I cannot be bothered by that.” Studying ECCE had a powerful effect on Basma. She recalls, “I really liked that and I realized many different things, I mean how we should raise our children and how pedagogy is. . . . There were a lot of things that I realized there . . . [like] how we should work with children.” Following the completion of her training Basma returned to work for 3 years. She found it hard to incorporate her new understanding of ECCE into her praxis: “It was a little bit difficult. It

238 was hard because I was used to doing something else.” Over time Basma has learned to incorporate her new understanding of ECCE into her praxis.

At this time, the institution where Basma worked was amalgamated with other institutions to form a cluster (klynge), this brought with it new leadership. The new leader did not give Basma the same rights as the fully qualified ECCE educators, so she decided to return to education to train as an ECCE educator. She did not have very positive interactions with her predominantly Danish classmates, noting “The Danes always picked each other . . . they did not want us [immigrants] in their groups, because if they make groups with us their grades would suffer.” This discrimination continued for the whole three years that Basma was studying and caused her significant stress and anguish: “I completely broke down and. . . . I ended up working alone for the pedagogy [pædagogik] paper and the final exam.” Finishing her degree required a great effort from Basma: “I had to work 32 hours a week . . . it was very, very tough and lots of papers that needed to be done . . . you have to look after your work and your family and all that homework.”

Fortunately Basma had a good advisor who assisted her, “I had a good advisor who was happy to help me and on the bachelor I got a 7 [see figure 7].” Basma is justifiably proud of becoming a qualified ECCE educator.

Figure 7. Danish Grading Scale Compared to European Credit Transfer System27.

27 https://ufm.dk/en/education-and-institutions/the-danish-education-system/grading- system/karakterbekendtgoerelse_vtu_en.pdf 239

During this time there were also stressful events taking place at Basma’s work.

Her new boss had taken a disliking to all the old staff who had worked at the institution before she had been employed. Basma recalls, “She threw two of my colleagues out, while I had been gone at college…one stopped on her own and two were thrown out.” As an assistant ECCE educator, under the new leadership Basma was not included in any of the decision making at the institution. Things came to a head when the leader of the kindergarten refused to consider Basma for position of ECCE educator, despite the institute needing the position to be filled and Basma being only months away from completing her training. In another incident, the leader of the institution refused to allow

Basma to participate in parent meetings, because the leader believed that Basma “…[d]id not have good enough Danish to talk to the parents.”

At this time Basma started to apply for new jobs and was invited to the Danish kindergarten for an interview on the day before her final exam: “**** said he would call me the next day and tell me if I got the job or not. So I told him to call at this time because I had my final exam.” The educator received the call after passing her final exam and the leader of the kindergarten said, “I have some more good news for you, you have been hired here as of the 1st of January.” Starting work at the kindergarten has been a positive experience for Basma, and I will explore this theme in depth in the following section where I examine Basma’s praxis.

Praxis.

Although Basma only recently completed her ECCE training, she has already been working in the field for a number of years and had previously received training as an ECCE assistant educator. She uses her experience to create and carry out a diverse

240 array of ECCE activities and also to foster close nurturing relationships with the children in her care.

A typical day.

When Basma opens the institution at 7.00 am she likes to arrive early, stating “I open at 7, people meet at 7, but I just feel that I want to come fifteen minutes before, because it gives me time to relax and that way I can lay the breakfast table and that sort of thing.” There are always two staff members (educators or assistant educators) who open the kindergarten in the morning. If they are not busy Basma takes the opportunity to take care of some practical chores: “If there is another adult then I do not feel that I need to be there [at the breakfast table], so I start to complete many of the practical tasks that we have.” When the children begin to arrive it quickly gets busy and Basma has to take care of them, explaining “I receive the children and wave to the parents if necessary.”

Basma can spend a considerable amount of time in the morning dealing with parents and making sure the children say properly goodbye to their parents. When asked if she talks a lot to the parents, Basma responded “It depends if there is anything to talk about.

Otherwise I say good morning to them.” Such an approach allows Basma to focus her energies on the needs of the children, instead of the parents.

Basma asks the children who arrive in morning what they would like to do: “I sit at the breakfast table and serve the children their breakfast. I ask them and those that do not want to eat I help them to initiate a game or an activity.” At this time Basma’s role is primarily that of facilitator, helping the children engage in self-selected activities as they see fit. This carries on until 9.30 am, when the rest of her colleagues arrive, “If I meet at

9.30 then . . . I come in to say hi to my colleagues. And then ask them if they are ready

241 and such like . . . if I am not going on a trip I do music and movement, or I have another activity and so I start.” By approximately 11.00 am in-house activities finish and the children are gathered in groups at both ends of the building for assembly. While this is occurring “one of the adults lays the tables, together with two of the children . . . and then afterwards, when we have finished at 11.30, we eat lunch . . . if you start at 11.30 then you are finished by 12.” However, there is flexibility in terms of how long some children are allowed to sit and. Alice explains, “There are a lot of children that sit and eat and adults give them permission to sit and eat for a long time.” Basma feels that it would be helpful for there to be more strict time constraints put on the children’s eating, as thy will experience this when they leave the kindergarten to start school.

Following lunch the children are free to put on their outdoor clothes and go outside. Basma describes how “they have to wash their hands and put their clothes on so that they can go outside onto the playground.” It is during the children’s period out on the playground where the bulk of the daily chores are completed by the personnel: “We do that [chores] ourselves. And we do not need to be 4 people on the playground, so the one can stay indoors and get started completing the practical tasks and getting ready for when the children come in.” Basma describes how the children come in at 2pm, lie down on blankets and listen to soothing music for 5 to 10 minutes, “When they have been on the playground and have played and shouted and that sort of thing, then it is very nice when they come in and relax a bit and calm down.” When the children have finished with the relaxation exercise the children sit on the carpet and eat their snack [frugt] while an adult sits and reads to them. After eating, the children are free to decide what activities they wish to do and Basma’s role is once again that of facilitator: “I go around and I ask them

242 what they feel like doing, and they tell me that some of them want to be in the cushion room [puderum]. Some want to dance . . . some want to do a puzzle and some want to color in coloring books [kopier].” The children are then divided and dispersed to help keep noise levels down.

After snack time the children start to get picked up by their parents, Basma explains “at 4.00 pm we eat again, a little bit of bread and that sort of thing. And then there are a few more children who get picked up. They are picked up already from 3.00 pm. Between 3.00 and 4.30 pm.” After 4.00 pm there are typically fewer children at the kindergarten and therefore the remaining adults begin to clear things away. The kindergarten closes at 5.00pm, but that does not mean that this is the time that Basma gets to go home. The educator explains, “Sometimes I get off at quarter to 5, sometimes I get off after 5. I mean since I started working here I have experienced 4 or 5 times where children are first picked up at quarter past 5.” Basma does not appreciate parents who frequently pick their children up after the kindergarten has closed, as it means that she is away from her own family longer than necessary. In the next section I will explore

Basma’s approach to music and movement.

Music and movement.

Basma enjoys conducting music and movement [rytmik] activities with the children and she has been conducting such activities for many years, describing “I have had music and movement for 5 days in a row and I would also do music and movement back in my old job.” However, in her former job Basma had access to a real sports center, with proper equipment to conduct a broad range of physical activities with the children.

She finds the lack of space in her new job difficult to adapt to, noting “It is sometimes

243 hard for me, because what I would like to do with the children I cannot do, there is not enough space. An obstacle course, there is not enough space…to play catch. . . . You just cannot do it in the room.” To be able to carry out music and movement activities on the premises of the kindergarten requires preparation. Basma notes, “If I am doing music and movement then I have to get things ready and move the furniture . . . it is very smart that they can be moved . . . [but] you have to really think about how you are going to do it.” A good example of Basma conducting a music and movement activity can be seen in the following unstructured observation taken on the 11/22/2016,

The children take their clothes off. Most of them are in just their underpants. They

start by running in circles around the room and they love it. There is no music on,

just running and the children’s smiles are huge. The teacher says “When I count

to three we sit down in a circle.” Then she asks, “Is this a good circle”, it is not.

After conducting a few more preliminary warm up activities Basma then sets up an obstacle course. The room is small and the different sections of the assault course are artfully packed away so it takes Basma a moment to assemble it. This is a little difficult because the children are energetic.

The educator then builds an obstacle course for the children to run around. Basma brings the children to the middle of the obstacle course. She then explains very carefully the rules. When they start this new activity it seems to go smoothly. The kids take turns and wait for each other. Basma then changes the course so that the children have to crawl under one obstacle. When Basma has packed the obstacle course away she continues with the next activity. As before, given the size of the space, Basma has to take time to pack

244 the items away. She tries to have the children help with the clearing away and some do, but some are too hyper and find it hard to focus,

Basma puts balls out and then she tells the children that they will play stop dance

[stopdans]. The children have balls and small teddies that they throw and play

with and when the music stops they all have to stop. It is not quite working. The

children appear to be too wild to be able to focus on the rules of the game. One of

the children is so disruptive that the teacher sends him out, and the atmosphere

improves dramatically. Those that lose in stop dance have to go and put their

clothes on.

Basma seems to have a strong conception of how children learn and develop. I explore this theme further in the next section, where I examine Basma’s perceptions of ECD.

Perceptions of ECD.

Basma has a firm belief that all children are unique and develop along their own distinctive trajectories, explaining “They learn more quickly [than adults] . . . . They learn in different ways.” However, Basma has not always felt like this, in fact her perceptions have shifted through her experiences working in the field of ECCE in Denmark.

An outsider’s view of Danish ECD.

Basma’s experiences of moving to Denmark from Pakistan and subsequently training to be and ECCE educator have changed her perceptions of ECD, to such a degree that during her studies she broke down to her advisor. She recalls, “I realized many different things . . . how we should raise our children and how pedagogy is. . . . I have sat with my advisor and cried once, because I . . . feel that I have messed up with the raising of my children.” The Pakistani educational tradition is more authoritarian and teacher-

245 centered than the Danish, and, for Basma, the transition to living in Denmark has sometimes been challenging, with Basma facing discrimination both in school and at work. However, Basma’s experiences have been beneficial within the context of the kindergarten, particularly when engaging with bilingual children and families. She states,

“It has helped me a lot because I have the same background as they have. . . . I know what it is that lies behind their child-raising. . . . I think it is very good that all pedagogues can interpret the behavior of children.” To aid in this pursuit Basma has spent time trying to explain some of the issues that face bilingual families in Denmark to her coworkers.

Play.

Basma considers play to be important, not only in her own praxis, but in ECCE more broadly. She is an advocate of the child’s right to make choices during his or her time in kindergarten and she also enjoys participating in child’s play herself, stating “I want to be involved with their play. I would like to participate in their play and support them.” Basma highlights the contextual nature of play and when adults should involve themselves: “It depends upon the situation you are in. . . . If I sit and play a game and some conflict arises then I want to go in and support them and help them to play a game, and finish that game as it is.” This example highlights how Basma alters her praxis, dependent upon whether the children are engaged in free play, or a structured, educator led activity. If Basma is not leading the children, then she is observant of the social context and interactions of the children at play, and adjusts her behavior accordingly.

Basma feels that it is important to respect the boundaries of the children and not, as an adult, force your way into their private play, stipulating “It also has to be their play.

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They have invented their own game and they should control it as they wish, instead of me going in and taking over. They should instead control their own play. That is that.”

Basma views play as a natural portion of child behavior that can also lead to learning, claiming “Those who are linguistically advanced, or have advanced motor skills, they can develop it through play. . . . They can take a piece of paper and then make it into something different because they use their imagination.” For Basma the goal of ECCE is to strike a balance between providing teacher created and controlled activities

(voksenstyring) and free choice and play: “I think that it is a mixture of both. . . . They need the activities that we decide . . . [and] some of them, they get it when they get on the playground, where they decide their own games. They are both equally important to me.”

In the next section I will examine Basma’s perceptions of gender in ECCE.

Gender.

Although Basma does not make any overt differentiation in terms of how she treats the boys and girls in her care, Basma does perceive them as developing in slightly different ways, stating “I mean the girls find it very easy, a lot of these things. All that about being able to concentrate on playing, compared to the boys. A lot of the boys can also play for a long time, but they get tired.” It is not just when playing Basma feels girls are better at focusing: “The girls can sit for longer periods with a puzzle or drawing or writing, the girls can certainly sit longer than boys. That is certainly my experience.” This observation has concrete implications for Basma’s perceptions and praxis. The educator states, “The boys have so much energy and they want to play ball outside when the weather is nice. They do not want to sit and work on their folders.” Sometimes Basma

247 lets the more boisterous boys run outside until they are calm enough to participate in the quieter indoor activities.

Basma takes the position that preparation for school is one of the chief functions of ECCE and she feels girls are typically more prepared to start in school than the boys:

“They are, certainly I think so . . . they know what they should do and if you look at their grade point averages from school then the girls have a higher average.” Basma further nuances these statements by saying “I have both [children], so and one of girls loves to read and all that. And then I have one who is completely different, she does not even want to look at a piece of paper. . . . So there is a difference between girls.” It would seem that Basma’s perceptions of ECD also influence how she views her work. I explore this idea further in the next section, where I examine Basma’s perceptions of ECCE.

Perceptions of ECCE.

Despite her many years of ECCE experience, Basma’s career as an ECCE educator is just beginning and she is still learning and adapting her praxis to meet the needs of the children in her care at the kindergarten. Her positive experiences at the kindergarten have meant that she feels that she is growing in confidence at present, after some unsavory experiences both during her studies and at her old job.

Growth in confidence.

For Basma the past eight months were a period of positive growth and development: “You get better and better, you learn and you get better and better and better. But I have gotten better compared to before. I can say that…I have learned a lot…I have gotten self-confidence that I could do this.” Basma feels at her old job she did not have this feeling of self-confidence, because “In my old job, even though I was a

248 qualified assistant educator and I was half way through my training…they would not accept it . . . here I was recognized and accepted as an educator.” For Basma there is a freedom that comes with her newfound status as a professional ECCE educator: “I can make my own decisions about a great many things. . . . I was not so good to talk to people before, but now I have another type of self-confidence which I cannot put into words.”

Basma links this feeling of self-confidence to a new sense of professionalism that she has in regards to her new position, explaining “I just feel that when I come to work then I am a professional . . . I mean I like it. I like this thing about being professional.” In the next section I examine Basma’s perceptions of her interaction with the children in the kindergarten.

Interactions with children.

An area where Basma feels she has gained confidence is in-terms of her interactions with the children and she attributes this change to her studies: “Before it was such that I would just talk to the head of the child [på hovedet]. Now after my training and what these things have done . . . I talk to children at their level.” Talking at the children’s level seems to bring with it positive results for Basma. She explains, “The children are more attentive. Before it was like if you talk at the head of the child, they would not listen.” When Basma goes to the children’s level then she feels “The children listen in a completely different way. . . . That is what I have learned through my training.”

This change in praxis stems directly from material that Basma was presented with through her training. Basma recalls, “When I was in college I read that you had to maintain eye contact with children when you talk to them.” However, during a professional development course Basma learned how “Children should look at your face

249 or your body and sense that you are present . . . so I have learned about two different things. So I use both of them now.” An example of how Basma uses language can be seen in the following example taken from a structured observation on the 07/12/2016,

What type of language does teacher use (commanding, supporting)?

Very supportive and motherly. She is aiding the smallest children at the center

and she has to help them a lot to get them ready to go out. It is also very cold so

the children need to put a lot of clothes on. With some of the bigger children she

is definitely more demanding and commanding.

Although Basma’s approach has changed a lot, in regards to going to the children’s level, she also feels that sometimes it is the task of the educator to be a disciplinarian, explaining “I mean as an adult you have to [laughs] be a bit tough [streng]. I get a bit tough sometimes…but you cannot be a disciplinarian all day.” In the next section I will explore Basma’s perceptions of freedom of method.

Freedom of method.

In the Copenhagen municipality ECCE educators have freedom of method, and this allows them the flexibility to approach ECCE in the way that they see fit, it is freedom of method that allows Basma to incorporate two divergent approaches to going to the child’s level. It also means that within the kindergarten ECCE educators approach their work in different ways. Basma states, “We are so different all of us. We do things and I think that it is a lot, but it is ok with me . . . I like that we are different.” Basma also highlights the inherent flexibility of the types of activities that they carry out at the kindergarten by saying, “An activity can do a lot of things, they [children] learn different things.” She gives an example of using beads: “When I was in the nursery I would always

250 start by making beads [perler] . . . I thought it was good for developing fine motor skills .

. . how you can look at such a bead, and how they can thread a string through it.” It should be noted that during my data collection I did not observe Basma using beads with the children.

However, Basma is of the opinion that to be able to effectively utilize freedom of method educators need to have time to collectively reflect on their praxis, explaining

“There are times when we have to talk to each other. Where we have to be in agreement about what we are doing, if it is ok or not. Because it cannot be so different that it goes in a completely different direction . . . it would help a lot to have meetings. So that we could talk to each other about pedagogy.” Basma continues, “I have not experienced in my eight months where we have sat and talked about what we do and why we do it.” When asked what effect this has had on her praxis Basma responded, “It is very practical, where we just go in and start doing an activity, without reflecting on whether it is right or wrong what we have done. . . . I have not got time to talk about it with the others.” This lack of meeting time makes it difficult for new staff members to be orientated about the general mode of praxis conducted at the kindergarten and also why certain approaches to praxis have been selected. For example, when asked about the reasons for dividing the day between teacher led activities and child led play, Basma responded, “I do not know, unfortunately I cannot tell you why they have chosen to do it like this. I have not asked.”

This example illustrates the fact that the field of education is full of reified practices, that

ECCE practitioners utilize, but do not fully understand the origins of. I will examine this idea further in the following section, where I will look at Basma’s habitus and how it influences her ECCE practice.

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Habitus.

Assimilation of Danish ECCE culture.

Basma has, as noted, many years of experience in the field of Danish ECCE.

What is particularly interesting with Basma is the extent to which she seems to have accepted and assimilated with the Danish model of ECCE. She wrote her bachelor thesis on the subject of parental collaboration (forældresamarbejde), where she compared what she considers to be the two existing models of ECCE, the Danish and the foreign. It is interesting to note that when she is talking about foreign approaches to ECCE she seems to suggest that all non-Danish approaches to ECCE are essentially the same. For example, when asked if she believed that there were only two models of ECCE she answered, “Yes that is how it is. . . . I mean [in Denmark] it is unique in the sense that here they want the child to be an individual . . . with us it is first when they reach six, seven years that we think that now they are going to be an individual.” Basma continues to say, “They have to be able to do this and they have to be individual, I mean. But with us it is the opposite, so when I have these children or these parents [non-Danish] then I know how it works. And when I did my paper about parental collaboration I got insight into how it works.” However, it seems that despite Basma’s integration into the Danish society, some of her professional habitus is still influenced by her earliest experiences with formal education in Pakistan. I will explore this issue further in the next section, where I explore Basma’s use of discipline in ECCE.

Discipline.

Despite Basma’s embrace of Danish ECCE, it is perhaps possible to identify residual influence from her own childhood experiences, particularly with regards to her

252 approach to discipline. As already noted, Basma feels that discipline can be necessary, even if the ECCE educator should not be disciplinary all the time: “They [the children] need boundaries . . . because if it is too loose [løs] all the time then they are just

[inaudible] all the time. Therefore, it is important that you tighten it sometimes.” Basma’s approach to discipline is further explored in the following structured participant observation, taken on the 02/12/16,

Does the teacher raise their voice and in what situations?

Yes frequently, when it relates to the children's interactions. When they are not

behaving in an ideal manner, when they are not quiet, obedient etc. this is perhaps

where there is a cultural clash with her own background.

This is further supported by a second structured participant observation, conducted on the

07/12/16,

Does the teacher raise their voice and in what situations?

Yes, particularly in situations where things are maybe moving a bit fast or where

she has to assert some kind of authority. Then she quite quickly resorts to an

authoritative style of behavior where she gives commands in a raised voice. In

comparison to Alice, she seems to have fewer different strategies for dealing with

demanding child behavior.

This does not mean in any way that the teacher has poor interactions with the children and in fact she seems to have developed a particular approach to interaction with the children to suit her strengths, as can be seen in this unstructured participant observation of an excursion to a nearby park, made on the 07/12/16,

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I have noticed that Basma, although not the most vocal ECCE educator, is always

engaging in small interactions with the children. She doesn't, like Alice, engage in

long elaborate and imaginative exchanges with the children, but instead she

focuses on shorter exchanges. But she is constantly involved and knows what all

of the children in her charge are doing.

Basma is a talented, engaged and caring ECCE educator, who is growing in confidence and ability and whose praxis is being strengthened because of her experiences at the kindergarten. Basma says that she is very happy working at the institution, claiming

“I am very happy I came here, you can do all the things that you can imagine, and that you have learned.” Through her comprehension of ECCE and her praxis Basma demonstrates how international the field of ECCE is, and how the field of ECCE can be enriched and strengthened by incorporating different cultural perspectives.

In-country Cross-case Comparison #2; Alice and Basma

In this next section, I conduct my second in-country cross-case comparison, looking at the two cases from Denmark, Alice and Basma. I note key similarities between their lived-experiences, praxes, perceptions of ECD and ECCE and their habitus. I also draw attention to areas where these two cases differ from each other.

Table 13

Cross-case Comparison #2; Alice and Basma

A priori Themes Converging Thematic Diverging Thematic Categories Categories Lived-Experiences Started working as kitchen- Appreciation of schooling in early assistants before becoming ECCE years educators

Praxis Music and Movement Dividing Children According to Play Age

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Perceptions of ECD and Multiple Ways of Learning Perceptions of Theory ECCE Freedom of Method and Reflection Use of Theory Habitus A Uniquely Beneficial Danish Discipline in ECCE System

Lived-experiences.

Alice and Basma have had very different childhood experiences from each other, growing up in different countries, speaking different languages and experiencing different school systems. Alice had many negative experiences during her formal schooling and often felt she was unfairly targeted by her teachers, because she suffered from dyslexia, with one of her teachers telling her she would never amount to anything because she could not spell. Basma also experienced strict schooling, but she did not struggle in the same way as Alice, being made head of her class. Basma has very positive memories of her education, recalling “When I started school I was very happy. . . . I loved school. I was just wild about school.” What is common for both educators is that they did not go straight into their current professions after they completed their schooling, but rather that they both had other work experiences first and in fact both Alice and

Basma found their way into the field by first working as kitchen assistants

(køkkenassistent). Another parallel between Alice and Basma is that when they first came in contact with the field of ECCE they immediately felt it was a field they would like to continue working in. After her first experiences working in the field of ECCE Basma felt an immediate affinity with the field, remembering “I thought it was really lovely . . . and that is where I first thought about studying to be a pedagogue.” This feeling has not waned, and Basma still feels a deep connection to her work as an ECCE educator.

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Alice took a more direct route to becoming a qualified ECCE educator than

Basma, by attending teacher’s training college while she was still in her 20’s. As noted, teacher training college was a positive experience for Alice and she feels she learned a lot during this time, recounting “It gave me a lot; I believe that it has done a lot for my life.”

Basma took a longer time to make the decision to become a professional ECCE educator and when she did the experience was decidedly less positive, with the educator recalling,

“I completely broke down.” What they do have in common is they both have a strong sense that education can also be unfair. When talking about her early schooling Alice recalls, “We had Danish . . . the teacher] was not very nice to me. She would focus on me in class in a very negative way, in front of the whole class . . . she really bullied me a lot.”

For both of them there seems to be an attitude that ECCE is a domain where children can be respected as individuals and not unfairly admonished because of their background or abilities.

Praxis.

Music and movement.

Both Alice and Basma enjoy doing music and movement (rytmik) activities with the children and do so frequently. They have both been doing such activities for a number of years and their accumulated experience can be seen when observing their activities, as they seem both to be able to seamlessly transition from one activity to another, synthesizing a series of smaller activities into a coherent whole. Such an approach seems to be effective in maintaining the children’s concentration over a protracted period of time. Alice, in particular, seems very comfortable doing music and movement and she feels her years of experience allow her to conduct music and movement activities easily.

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Basma on the other hand, despite her experience, is still trying to adapt her praxis to her new surroundings, noting “It is sometimes hard for me. Because what I would like to do with the children I cannot do…there is not enough space.” Alice has been working at the kindergarten for a number of years, she understands how to utilize the space available to maximum effect and she also played a key role in determining how the daily praxis at the kindergarten should be structured. Alice stipulates, “The whole structure of the place, I have really influenced it. The way in which we do things, it was me that organized that”, she continues, “I believe that it is easier if you have been here for a while, rather than when you just arrive . . . you have to be creative…it takes a while to build up these routines.” In the next section I will compare Alice and Basma’s perspectives on play in

ECCE.

Play.

Both Alice and Basma see play as being important in their praxes. Both view it as being inherently valuable and a domain where children can learn and develop. Both Alice and Basma think it is important for the ECCE educator to participate in child’s play.

Alice stipulates, “Play for me is a space where I can process the same things as they see .

. . [for the children] it becomes a way to negotiate and navigate their surroundings.”

Basma also feels it is important for ECCE educators to participate in the play of children, explaining “I want to be involved with their play. I would like to participate in their play and support them.” Interestingly both Alice and Basma independently use the exact same examples of play. Basma says, “If they are playing in the sandpit, making cakes, then I want to be there.” Alice concurs, saying, “For me play is about using yourself, that I am part of their play . . . baking a cake for example, where they stand in the sandpit and bake

257 cakes.” Both Alice and Basma feel that in ECCE it is important for the educator to strike a balance between play and adult controlled activities. On this issue Basma says, “I think that it is a mixture of both. I think that they are both good.” Alice supports the idea that both adult controlled activities and play are important, stipulating that when all the children are out on the playground it is an ill-suited environment in which to create in- depth activities with individual children. For Alice, “When you do music and movement

[rytmik] you have a smaller group of children, so you can focus more on where each child is in regards to their development of motor skills.” In the next section I will explore

Alice and Basma’s diverging perspectives on dividing children up according to age in

ECCE.

Dividing children according to their age.

The open plan design of the kindergarten and the prominence of child-centered activities mean that for long stretches during the course of the day children play together at the institution irrespective of age, but during the activities the children are typically divided according to their age and developmental level. Although both Alice and Basma facilitate this process they have diverging views on the use of this technique. Alice feels it is necessary in order for her to conduct her praxis: “We divide them up according to age as much as possible.” Alice further elucidates, “I feel that the youngest are in the greatest need of the presence of a grownup . . . right now we are doing good pedagogy here because we can be present for all the children, because we can split them up into smaller groups.” Basma wishes they did not split the children up as much because she feels there are clear benefits for having the children together. She explains, “I think children learn a lot from the others . . . the bigger children gain a sense of responsibility .

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. . they learn responsibility because they have to help.” In the next section I will compare and contrast Alice and Basma’s perceptions of ECD and ECCE.

Perceptions of ECD and ECCE.

Multiple ways of learning.

Both educators believe children learn in individual and unique ways and ECCE should be tailored to meet the individual child’s specific needs. Alice feels it is her job as an ECCE educator to tailor her praxis: “I think that you appeal to the fact that different people learn in different ways.” Basma concurs that children learn in different ways, explaining “They do. They are different, in different ways, because they are themselves so different.” Basma does not believe this statement applies only to children, it also applies to adults: “Even us grownups are the same. We also learn in different ways, maybe I learn without writing anything down and many feel that it has to be written down.” For Basma, there are advantages to not thinking too rigidly about how children learn, elaborating “Sometimes we are very quick at putting them in different boxes. I mean this child really cannot do anything . . . maybe this child who we think can do so much right now, will not be able to do so much when it gets further forward.” For Basma, what is important is how she looks at the child: “It all depends on, I think that when I look at a child, how they are . . . so I look at them, if I have the smallest ones then I will not give them a puzzle which is very big. Then I will give them a puzzle with only three pieces in it.” Responding to the multiple different ways in which children can learn requires a flexibility of praxis. Freedom of method seems to allow the Danish ECCE educators to change their approach to meet the unique requirements of the children in

259 their care. I will explore this issue further in the next section, where I compare and contrast Alice and Basma’s perspective on freedom of method and reflection in ECCE.

Freedom of method and reflection.

Both Alice and Basma enjoy having freedom of method and feel that it allows them to tailor their praxis to meet the specific needs of the children in their care. Alice believes there are many different ways in which learning objectives can be achieved.

Despite this, Alice feels it can sometimes be hard, because of freedom of method, to have insight into the work of her colleagues, noting “It is quite a schism sometimes right? It is easier if we say you are going to do this, this and this, right. . . . I mean how do we get it all to hang together?” Basma is also very comfortable with freedom of method and feels that all the other personnel at the institution practice ECCE in unique ways, with each educator bringing something different to the staff and the praxis of the kindergarten.

The divergence of praxes that exist in the kindergarten lead to one issue Alice and

Basma are in complete agreement on: the lack of time for planning and group reflection is for them problematic and detrimental to their praxes. Basma states, “We are just lacking time to collectively reflect on our praxis together and we are lacking time to plan.” Alice believes that because day to day life at the kindergarten can be so fluid and unpredictable having time to meet and discuss is vital, asserting “There is a day like today when puhaaa . . . we are lacking someone who can see the big picture right?”

Basma agrees with this position and feels that even though they have freedom of method, there still has to be some basic consensus about what the staff are collectively trying to achieve: “I like that we are different and can do things in our own ways. But there are times when we have to talk to each other. Where we have to be in agreement about what

260 we are doing . . . because it cannot be so different that it goes in a completely different direction.” To aid with their reflection, and the use of freedom of method to meet the unique requirements of the child, both educators draw upon ECD/ECCE theory. I will explore this issue further in the next section, where I compare and contrast Alice and

Basma’s use of theory.

Use of theory.

Both Alice and Basma strongly anchor their praxes in developmental and educational theory. Alice, despite her earlier aversion to studying is deeply engaged in keeping up to date with what is going on in the field of ECCE at large, and explains that this is why she enjoys having students, because she feels they help her to keep up with what is going on in the field of ECCE. Alice describes her use of theory thus, “Certainly I have experienced this myself that you pick a bit from here and a bit from there . . . I picked a bit here and a bit there.” Basma also really believes that theory is important in the field of ECCE, saying that it has helped her a great deal and that studying opened her eyes to the different possibilities inherent in the field of ECCE. Alice and Basma do seem to differ slightly in how they use and think about theory. Alice seems constantly to be questioning what she knows about her work and how she should make sense of the children in her care, noting “I think sometimes about the idea of a competent child, I mean what is the competent child even, how is it that they learn?” Basma’s use of theory seems to be slightly more rigid and less questioning than Alice’s. When talking about how she has used theory to help her talk to the parents, Basma said “I have gotten some theory now. Where I know how it is that I should talk to parents.” When referring to a particular text that has influenced her thinking, written by a Syrian/Danish politician, she

261 said, “He has written everything about modes of child rearing.” From these examples, it is possible to conclude that Basma thinks about theory in more absolute terms, whereas

Alice is more flexible and is constantly questioning the voracity of her position. In the next section I compare and contrast the professional habitus of Alice and Basma.

Habitus.

A uniquely beneficial Danish system.

A conviction that both Alice and Basma seem to share is the fundamental belief that the Danish approach to ECCE is uniquely beneficial for children. Alice grew up in the Danish system and has not lived elsewhere. Despite not having experienced ECCE praxis in other countries, Alice believes the Danish approach to ECCE is uniquely placed to meet the individuated needs of the child and fosters uniquely creative children, claiming “I think that Danish kindergartens are good at creating environments where . . . they learn here that it is ok to employ your imagination . . . are there any studies that show that Danish children are good at inventing?” Basma has had a different experience to Alice, as she grew up in a different country and experienced a different educational system. What is interesting to note is how Basma, during her initial years of studying and working with ECCE in Denmark, has transitioned and changed her perspectives and habitus in regard to ECCE. During her Danish ECCE training Basma realized she had made mistakes raising her children. Basma recalls, “I realized many different things. I mean how we should raise our children and how pedagogy is.” Today Basma expresses the perspective that the Danish model of ECCE is unique, explaining “I mean it is unique in the sense that here they want the child to be an individual . . . here in Denmark . . . even children at the nursery age they have a certain level of autonomy . . . that is how it

262 is.” Despite both Alice and Basma perceiving Danish ECCE as being uniquely beneficial for children, their professional habitus contrast when it comes to the issue of discipline. I explore this issue further in the next section.

Discipline in ECCE

An issue upon which Alice and Basma diverge slightly is their approach to discipline. Although both ECCE practitioners believe ECCE centers are spaces where children should be able to learn and develop, irrespective of their strengths or character types, they do differ somewhat when it comes to how the utilize discipline in their ECCE praxes. When Alice is involved with conflict between children in her care she rarely raises her voice and instead sees her role primarily as a mediator, differentiating her approach dependent upon the age of the children concerned. Basma on the other hand adopts a more robust approach to discipline. She frequently raises her voice with children who are being unruly, stating “They need boundaries…because if it is loose [løs] all the time they are just [inaudible] all the time. Therefore, it is important that you tighten it sometimes.” However, a more overtly disciplinary approach does not always seem to be equally effective, as can be seen in the observation of Basma’s music and movement activity, where the children become wild and unruly, despite Basma’s best efforts. Only when she sent a child out of the activity did matters improve. I posit that these differences in approach to discipline stem from the backgrounds and lived-experiences of Alice and

Basma and arise from their professional habitus.

In the next chapter I will conduct my cross-national comparison and explore my interpretations of the data, before revisiting my conceptual framework and proposing new areas of research based upon the outcomes of this study. The intention of my research

263 interpretations is to create linkages between the micro-level events, presented in my elucidation of collected data in this and the following chapter, and the macro-level research and theoretical considerations expounded in my literature review and theoretical framework in chapter 2. These interpretations serve as the foundation for proposals that I make for organizations/stakeholders in the field of international/global ECCE, on how I feel they best can support the introduction of ECCE programs in international/global settings, while still respecting the important role played by local culture in ECCE.

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Chapter 5: Cross-national Comparison and Interpretations

Introduction

There appear to be notable uniformities and divergences in the lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes of the four Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) educators participating in this study, when comparing the cases drawn from the same kindergartens. In this chapter I conduct my cross-national comparison, before exploring my interpretations of the data. The intention of my research interpretations is to create linkages between the micro-level events, presented in my elucidation of collected data in chapters 4-5, and the macro-level research and theoretical considerations expounded in my literature review and theoretical framework in chapter 2. These interpretations serve as the foundation for proposals that I make for organizations/stakeholders in the field of international/global ECCE, on how I feel they best can support the introduction of ECCE programs in international/global settings, while still respecting the important role played by local culture in ECCE. Finally, I present a reinterpretation of my conceptual framework and propose new areas of potential research, based upon the findings of this study. It should be noted that given the interpretative nature of my analysis, other conclusions, based upon the data/literature presented in this study are possible, and the reader is encouraged to interrogate my work and draw their own conclusions.

Cross-national Comparison/Contrast

In this section, I conduct my cross-national comparison/contrast of all four cases in the two different institutions. I focus primarily upon the common ground that exists cross-nationally, as this can provide important insight into what facets of ECCE transcend the national/subnational context. I posit that these commonalities are useful for

265 curriculum experts in the field of international/global ECCE, and can potentially be transferable to other similar ECCE contexts (Merriam, 2009). Additionally, it seems clear that there are noteworthy divergences in how ECCE is thought of and practiced at the two research locations. It also seems clear that the national/subnational context in which the

ECCE center is situated plays a role in determining how ECCE educators perceive and conduct their praxes.

Research questions.

The following research questions and sub-questions guided this study into the problem of how national culture shapes ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes:

What are the professional lived-experiences and habitus of two Danish and two

Lebanese educators?

 How are these ECCE educators’ lived-experiences and habitus similar to

and different from each other?

What are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE and what are their praxes?

 How do the educators’ habitus influence their perceptions?

 How are the ECCE educators’ perceptions of ECD and ECCE similar to

and different from each other?

 How do perceptions influence individual praxis?

My cross-national comparison/contrast is particularly focused upon addressing the question of how the participating ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, habitus, perspectives of ECD and ECCE, and praxes compare cross-nationally. The order in

266 which the cases are presented varies throughout the next section, but a Lebanese case is always followed by a Danish case and vice versa. Such a structure has been chosen to draw attention to the points of comparison and contrast between the participants cross- nationally.

Table 14

Cross-National Comparison/Contrast

Converging Thematic Categories Diverging Thematic Categories

Child-Educator Ratios Curriculum and Learning Materials Care and Child-centered Praxis in ECCE. Gender and Professional Identity in ECCE The Role of the Parents A Love of ECCE

Converging thematic categories.

Child-educator ratios.

A key agreement among all four cases is that child-educator ratios play an important role in the field of ECCE education, and have implications for the quality of the educator’s praxis. Mariam noted how over the past several years her class sizes have increased considerably, explaining “28 is a big number.” Having to be responsible for such large classes is not easy and has implications for Mariam’s praxis, with her saying she finds it difficult to handle 28 children in a class, particularly when compared to working with the class sizes she was accustomed to when she started to work at the kindergarten. Mariam notes that discipline becomes increasingly important as her classes grow in size.

Alice also finds her praxis is detrimentally affected by having to be responsible for too many children at once. During the data collection, the Danish kindergarten had

267 reasonably good child-educator ratios because fewer children had applied than in previous years, but Alice states, “If you had come last year . . . we would have been sitting here and me telling you how hard it is because I was often alone with 22 children.”

Alice shares Mariam’s feelings that poor child-educator ratios negatively impact upon the quality of ECCE. However, it is interesting to note that Alice and Mariam have different perceptions of what constitutes poor adult-child ratios, with Alice feeling 22 children is too much for her to effectively conduct her praxis, whereas Mariam feels 28 is too big a number. This perhaps reflects the different nature of their praxes and the curricula they follow.

For Leila, the size of the class and the different needs of the different children mean she has to make a concerted effort to give attention to the quieter children. She states, “I try my best to give equal attention. . . . If something is happening then I have to focus on what happened, but at other times no, of course I give them the attention that they need.” Due to the difficulties associated with having to manage large class sizes, discipline becomes an important component of ECCE praxis, particularly when Leila is trying to explain a new activity: “The most important thing is when I am explaining, especially a new concept of a new letter, or a new number, for me they have to be really quiet so they can focus on what I am saying.” As previously noted, Leila’s strategy for ensuring the discipline of her pupils in the classroom is to constantly reinforce the importance of school rules to them.

As with Leila, Basma feels poor child-educator ratios affect the weakest children the most, as they are the ones most in need of adult attention. Dividing children into smaller groups allows Basma to concentrate solely on a smaller number of children, and

268 this can be beneficial particularly for the weaker children. However, Basma feels the problems associated with poor child-educator ratios is compounded by the lack of space available at the Danish kindergarten. She says, “I feel that if you have too many children, if all 22 children are supposed to sit on this one little carpet, then it is difficult for me.”

For Basma, who had only worked at the kindergarten for eight months when I conducted my data collection, the child-educator ratios at the institution are good, but she also feels the issue of child-educator ratios plays an important role in ECCE, remembering “I have also been in an institution where we had 44 children to five adults. . . . I can feel the difference.” Basma is happy to be working in an institution with relatively favorable child-educator ratios.

The data collected for this study seems to support the notion that child-educator ratios are important to ECCE praxis, irrespective of national/subnational context or approach to ECCE. Too many children in an ECCE classroom seems to create organizational problems for the educators and space becomes an issue, particularly because children in this age group often find it difficult to sit still and concentrate for prolonged periods of time. Poor child-educator ratios seem to affect the weakest children most, because ECCE educators are forced to deal with behavioral issues from more boisterous children, before they can focus on the needs of quieter or weaker children.

Dividing children into smaller groups, dependent upon development level or academic need, appears to be a useful strategy for dealing with the problem of poor child-educator ratios. Although there seems to be consensus among the four research participants that poor child-educator ratios negatively impacts ECCE praxis, it is interesting to note how the Lebanese and Danish educators define poor child-educator ratios differently. I

269 attribute this difference to the diverging pedagogical practices seen in the Lebanese and

Danish cases. One of the negative outcomes of poor child-educator ratios is that all the educators feel they do not have sufficient time to provide the necessary affection to the children in their care, and properly conduct child-centered ECCE praxis.

Care and child-centered praxis in ECCE.

Another area of convergence highlights how the praxes of the four research participants are more child-centered and affectionate than the educators themselves experienced as children in ECCE institutions. Basma recalls her own schooling as being very strict, explaining “There was a lot of discipline and there still is in our high schools.

. . . If your bag is not properly organized then you would get a beating.” There is quite a difference between this approach to education and Basma’s own perceptions of ECCE.

She notes, “There are different things that they [children] have to learn . . . [and] there are different ways that they come to different children . . . there are some who take longer . . . learning will come after a while, that is what I think.” Basma articulates the position that all children learn in different ways and it is the job of the ECCE educator to help them and eventually the children will learn what is needed.

Mariam also experienced a strict approach to ECCE in her own childhood. She recalls, “I have memories of crying, it was firm, it was tough. . . . We did not have nice teachers back then.” The approach to ECCE Mariam is describing here is very different from what she herself practices, where care and affection are key components in all her interactions with the children in her charge. Mariam explains “I wouldn’t want a kid in my class who learns how to read and write, while he is not happy . . . when they are happy they will want to learn.” Mariam shares Basma’s view that all children learn in

270 different and unique ways and her job is to help them each individually. Mariam feels it is the educator’s job to combine different education strategies to meet the varying needs of all the children in her class. This is why Mariam is an advocate for differentiated instruction, where the ECCE educator has the flexibility to change a learning activity to support the specific requirements of each child.

Alice also has unfavorable recollections of her own experiences in ECCE and would sometimes skip school to avoid being humiliated or bullied by her teachers. Alice describes her own approach to ECCE thusly, “Our approach allows children to learn irrespective of their strengths. . . . I am constantly trying to capture their interest with some learning content.” Alice also shares Mariam’s perspective that all children learn in different and unique ways. This perspective goes some way to explaining the very open and fluid approach to ECCE praxis that I observed in the Danish kindergarten.

Leila’s own experiences with ECCE as a child were also markedly different to the way she conceives of her praxis. The purely academic, teacher-centered approach to

ECCE that Leila experienced differs from her own approach, which utilizes singing, dancing and/or play every day in class time. Leila shares Alice’s perception that children learn and develop in unique and different ways. She states, “I think that it [learning] depends on their own pace . . . eventually everyone will reach the goal.” This position helps explain why Leila is so comfortable utilizing free-play in her daily praxis.

All four cases seem to agree on the issue that their approaches to ECCE today are more caring and child-centered than they themselves experienced as children in ECCE. I think it is important to note how all the educators believe children learn in unique ways and that it is imperative for ECCE praxis/curricula to be flexible enough to support a

271 broad array of learning styles. However, for the Lebanese cases in particular, there sometimes appears to be a tension between the stipulated belief in multiple legitimate pathways to learning and the relatively uniform requirements of the school curriculum, along with the stipulated belief of the Lebanese participants that all children fit into high, average and low achievement categories. The ECCE educators agree that a child-centered approach to ECCE praxis is important. The participants also agree that child-centered praxis involves understanding the children’s family backgrounds, and interacting with their parents.

Role of the parents.

Another area of confluence and agreement is the important role the children’s parents play in ECCE. Alice sees the child’s family background as playing a central role in the child’s early development during ECCE. In addition, Alice feels that parental interactions with the kindergarten staff have changed over the years, elucidating “I think I can see that there has been a shift. . . . The parents take up more space in the daily life of the institution than they used to.” Alice perceives that there are advantages and disadvantages to the increasing levels of parental involvement in ECCE, with the parents frequently reflecting upon what type of development they wish for their child and communicating this with the staff at the institution. Problems do arise however and Alice feels that often there are parents who simply cannot see past the needs of their “…[o]wn little child.” There seems to be a delicate balance that must be struck by ECCE educators, between accommodating the individuated needs of each parent and ensuring this does not detract from providing high-quality ECCE for the children.

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Alice’s negative perceptions of the role of parents in ECCE are mirrored by Leila.

Leila laments how her parents often want to have instant responses to their questions about their children, rather than coming to her office during her weekly office hours. Like

Alice, Leila sometimes feels parents find it difficult to be objective about their own children, and this can make it difficult for the ECCE educator to communicate with parents, if academic or behavioral problems arise. Leila explains, “In Lebanon . . . all parents they think that their child is the top of the class…if their child faces difficulties, they don’t acknowledge it.” Leila noted that during her time as homeroom teacher she has had few direct confrontations with parents and she felt lucky that this was the case because dealing with parents was one of the most difficult aspects of her job.

Basma feels it is her job as an ECCE educator to put the parents at ease, because they are placing their children in her care. Basma, when describing her typical interactions with parents, stipulates that she tries to keep communication professional and to a minimum. She states, “I just talk about the children if there is something which needs to be looked to.” In this way, Basma ensures that she minimizes the time she expends on each parent during work hours and thereby maintains a professional relationship to them.

Basma has developed this strategy because she feels some parents take up too much of her time in the mornings and seem not to understand that there are many children in the kindergarten, all of whom need Basma’s care and support.

As with Basma, Mariam feels parents play an important role in ECCE and she has developed strategies to help her in her interactions with parents. To help the parents of struggling children, Mariam always ensures that she is very well prepared for her meetings with them. Mariam always utilizes the same strategy when she has parent

273 meetings. She explains, “Every time I go to the meeting . . . I have a portfolio with me. . .

. So I have like evidence of the kids work.” Despite the difficulties sometimes involved in dealing with parents, Mariam stresses the fact that if one of her children is struggling, with regards to their behavior or academic work, then she would want the parents to be involved. This shows that Mariam, like the other educators, feels parents have an important role to play in ECCE.

There seems to be agreement between the four cases that parents play an important role in ECCE. Particularly if there is a child who is struggling socially or academically, all the ECCE educators feel the parents should play a role in supporting the child’s development in an ECCE setting. However, the relationship between parents and

ECCE educators is sometimes an uneasy one and the educators raise the issue that individual parents can find it hard to understand if their own child is struggling. It seems that communication becomes vital when the educators are interacting with parents, particularly in regards to specific problems a child may be having. Mariam’s use of a portfolio is a concrete example of how ECCE educators can attempt to improve their communication with parents in such circumstances. Despite the difficulties involved in working in the field of ECCE, all the participants agreed that they immediately felt a strong connection to the work upon initial contact and maintain their love for ECCE today.

Love of ECCE.

A final issue, shared by all the educators, is their love of working in the field of

ECCE. All the educators experienced an immediate sense of connection to ECCE and felt it was something for which they had a natural affinity. Basma felt an immediate

274 connection to the field of ECCE, even though it took her some years before she became professionally involved with ECCE on a full-time basis, explaining “With ECCE

[pædagogik], I thought it was really lovely. And the way that they work with children. It was really lovely. It was very different for me.” Later when she had the opportunity to work in the field of ECCE fulltime Basma says she could feel that she wanted to continue working in this field, recalling “I could feel that it was something that interested me a great deal. I felt that this was the direction that I wanted to go in.” Basma’s love of children and her commitment to the field of ECCE has not diminished over the years and she says her primary gauge for the quality of her praxis is positive responses the children and their parents give her. To achieve such positive responses, Basma feels it is important children enjoy their time at the kindergarten, and are given the freedom to make their own decisions about how they wish to spend their time.

Like Basma, Leila was attracted to the idea of working with children even before she had any real experiences in the field of ECCE. Basma elucidates, “There are several fields in psychology. . . . Once I realized that educational psychology was dealing with kids, directly I chose it.” Her psychology professor at university told her that he felt she would be an excellent ECCE educator and he was proved to be right, because Leila fell in love with ECCE when she began work at the kindergarten. Leila loves her job so much, she often feels she takes her work home with her and cannot stop thinking about the children in her charge. As with Basma, Leila gauges the quality of her own praxis by the responses of the children and how happy they seem. Leila states, “The most important thing for me is for the child to come happy to school. . . . Eventually he is going to learn

275 the letters, he is going to learn numbers, he is going to go to university.” It is this perspective that allows Leila to incorporate play-based activities into her daily praxis.

Alice had some negative experiences during her own formal education, but seems to have found her niche in ECCE. Alice seems to have felt a natural affinity for the field from the beginning, and she recalls “I tried the kindergarten and I think that some of the pedagogues, or the personnel have looked at me and said ‘she has some ability, she is good at this’, and I enjoyed it.” The immediate affinity that Alice felt with the field of

ECCE was so strong that she decided to go back to school, even though she had promised herself that she would not study anymore. As with Basma and Leila, Alice gauges the quality of her own praxis through the responses of the children in her care. It is perhaps her enjoyment of the positive responses she gets from children that help her engage with them in spontaneous free play, and give her the courage to roll around on the floor if a game or activity requires it.

Mariam did not initially train to become an kindergarten educator, rather her training was in the field of elementary education and she felt there were big differences in approach in ECCE: “I felt that it [praxis] changed after I taught at this age. . . . I specialized in elementary education. . . . This was something new to me . . . the interaction was really nice…dealing with kids that age.” Although Mariam felt there was a big difference between elementary and kindergarten education she felt it was easy to adapt her praxis to the new context. For Mariam love plays an important role in her praxis. She expounds, “I really, really love them. Now with time we will get like a very strong bond.” As with the other educators, Mariam gauges her own praxis based upon the responses that she gets from the children in her care, and she expresses this quite

276 explicitly by stating, “A good day is when all my kids are going home happily, and coming the next day with a positive attitude towards coming back to school.” During my data collection in Mariam’s KG3 classroom, I saw many instances of children coming to school with a positive attitude.

All four research participants state that from their very first contact with the field of ECCE they felt a strong connection to the work and deeply enjoyed interacting with children in the age range seen in this study (3-6 years of age). This seems to be an important point when we think about the field of ECCE more generally, because working with ECCE requires more of educators than just instructing children in educational content. As discussed in chapter 2, ECCE requires that educators are engaged in multiple

Early Childhood Development (ECD) domains, such as the development of motor, social and cognitive skills, as well formal learning. It is also interesting to note that, given the divergent natures of the curricula and praxes seen in the two kindergartens, all four participants utilize the same criteria when judging if they are being successful in their roles as ECCE educators, namely the positive behavioral responses from the children in their care. These are the key convergences that I found when analyzing the data of the four research participants. It is not on all issues that the Lebanese and Danish educators agree however. In the next section I concentrate on two key areas of divergence, as I conduct my cross-national contrast.

Diverging thematic categories.

Although there are a number of similarities between the four ECCE educators participating in this study, there are also a number of divergences that potentially have qualitative significance for the field of international/global ECCE.

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Curriculum and learning materials.

The differing use of curriculum and teaching materials is a key point of contrast between the Lebanese and Danish ECCE practitioners in this study. Although they work with comparable age groups, the approaches of the Lebanese and Danish educators differ markedly. Much of this disparity would seem to be due to variations in the formal curricula used at the two kindergartens. As noted, the Lebanese kindergarten draws its educational objectives from the national curriculum, which is rooted in the French

Brevet. This curriculum appears to provide very detailed and specific guidance on what learning outcomes should occur at the different age ranges, and how these learning outcomes are to be achieved. As noted, the curriculum utilized in the Lebanese kindergarten focuses heavily on English, French and Arabic learning, along with mathematics. Science and art also feature, but less prominently than language and mathematics. In many respects this focus upon the core competence areas of literacy, math and science is in alignment with a trend seen in the field of international and comparative education, where these core academic areas serve as the foundation for large scale cross-national educational comparisons28.

The approach to education utilized at the Lebanese kindergarten bears some resemblance to Tyler’s (1949) basic principles of curriculum and instruction, where core learning areas are presented and then consistently reinforced over time to ensure retention. The role of the educator is to control the environment and experiences of the child to ensure the desired educational/behavioral outcomes. Over time, with constant reinforcement and incremental change in content, the desirable modes of understanding are acquired by the child. I take the position that constant reinforcement of learning

28 http://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/ 278 content is clearly seen in the praxes of both Mariam and Leila, and the learning content to which the children are exposed is incremental, utilizing a small stock of potential learning strategies (symbol recognition, logical deduction etc.) to present information from a number of content areas. Leila explains how she typically organizes her class activities:

“We will cover four letters. We have already covered two. We have two to cover and then we make one week of revision, with the four letters . . . just to refresh their memory.” This incremental approach to learning is well illustrated by the yearly report card used at the Lebanese kindergarten (see appendix D). Here we can see how different content areas are broken into identifiable and desirable modes of behavior that the educator can easily utilize to differentiate her instruction, based upon the individual requirements and aptitudes of each child.

Such an approach provides a contrast to the Danish ECCE institution, where the educators are granted complete freedom of method to achieve the desirable educational outcomes, as long as their praxis conforms to some overarching educational themes set by the Danish ministry of education. These organizing themes are suitably broad to allow a multitude of different interpretations, and therefore do not seem to hamper the freedom of method that both Alice and Basma enjoy. When you compare organizing themes used in Denmark to coordinate ECCE praxis to the content areas in the Lebanese report card, they seem much less specific and also do not require exact and concrete responses from the children or educators. They allow a higher level of variation in terms of the choice of subject content and delivery, permitting educators to incorporate input from the children.

As an example, Alice stipulates, “They [children] come with ideas themselves and then you catch their improvisations. . . . They improvise and as the pedagogue part of your job

279 is to catch these improvisations.” Such a way of working seems to be in striking contrast to the more prescribed and formulaic approach seen in the Lebanese kindergarten.

As for the learning materials in the Danish institution, there are no text books or work books. Instead, all formal content is transmitted to the children through their often spontaneous interactions with the ECCE educators, particularly during the organized activities, circle-times or meal-times. Often, the formal content seems incidental to the child’s socialization and typically arises due to the interests of a child at a particular juncture. This is in contrast to the Lebanese learning materials that are formalized as class and work books, uniform across the different grade levels in the kindergarten, and implemented in a controlled and coordinated fashion across the different classes in the same year group. Although the Lebanese educators have the freedom to choose when during the course of a week certain learning activities are to take place, by the end of a week the stipulated learning objectives must be met. There is evidence to support the idea that divergent approaches to ECCE can give comparable educational outcomes (Tazouti,

Viriot-Goedel, Matter, Geiger-Jaillet, Carol & Deviterne, 2010), and I view both the approaches seen in this study to be effective examples of high-quality ECCE (Izu, 2006).

I return to this issue later in the chapter.

Gender and professional identity in ECCE.

Another way in which the educators in Lebanon and Denmark differ is how they perceive their professional roles as ECCE educators. As noted, both Mariam and Leila consider the role of the ECCE educator to be, at least partially, an extension of motherhood. They perceive that the caring aspects of their work are linked to motherhood and use the analogy of motherhood when talking explicitly about the role of care in

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ECCE. Mariam goes a step further by saying she loves the children in her care. This position seems to be reinforced by the fact that the Lebanese kindergarten only has women in its employ and find it difficult to attract male workers because of low wages.

Additionally, the head of section stipulates that she endeavors to employ women who are themselves mothers, as she believes the maternal instinct plays an important role in the successful application of ECCE programs. This seems to create an environment where

ECCE is viewed as a solely female pursuit and where the archetype of motherhood and the need to love the children in the institution become key components of the practitioners’ professional identities, irrespective of their other, more academic qualifications.

In Denmark ECCE practice does not seem to the same extent to be considered an extension of motherhood. At the Danish kindergarten there was only one male ECCE practitioner, but there were also male employees at the other institutions in the Danish kindergarten’s cluster and the head of section was also a man. During the course of the data collection none of the personnel made any reference to viewing ECCE as being a feminized profession and Alice stipulates that she feels her job is well respected in the local community and that she receives much positive feedback for the professional work she does. Basma agreed this position and also stipulated that she feels she has a professional and private persona, and that it is important for her to distinguish between her professional work and her home life. This is why she does not like the fact that some parents repeatedly pick their children up late from the Danish kindergarten, because it means she is forced to be away from her own family longer than is necessary.

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I posit that in this respect the Danish educators in this study, when compared to their Lebanese counterparts, do not seem to embody typical modes of proper mothering

(Cannella, 1997). Cannella defines the concept of proper mothering as a constructed

“…[d]iscourse…that young human beings must have a particular, universal set of early experiences to survive, “ and continues to say that, “An almost mystical importance was placed on the role of the mother” (p. 72). Instead of embodying such a gendered narrative, the Danish cases seem to have developed a strong sense of ECCE professionalism, rooted in professional pride and the positive support they receive from their local community. There is extant research that supports the idea that viewing the profession of ECCE as an extension of motherhood can be detrimental for the field and make it difficult to recruit qualified and competent (male and female) educators

(Cannella; Cleveland & Colley, 2013).

The data collected for this study seems to align with my theoretical position that the praxes and perceptions of ECCE practitioners are influenced by the national/subnational context in which they live through the intervening constructs of lived-experience and habitus. This seems to suggest that different cultural contexts have a natural tendency to develop unique approaches to ECCE, rooted in established educational and cultural ideologies. My elucidation of the data collected for this study is now complete. The presentation of my data in chapters 4-5 is intended to answer my research questions. In the following section I present my interpretations of the data, make linkages between the micro-level data and the macro-level theories and research presented in chapter 2. These interpretations help me to provide suggestions for curriculum specialists working in the field of international/global ECCE about how the

282 issue of national/subnational context should be thought of when introducing ECCE programs to new settings around the world.

Interpretations

In this section, I present interpretations of my data. The theoretical lens adopted for this study was critical theory, with particular focus upon the works of Michel

Foucault (1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1985) and Pierre Bourdieu (1984, 1994), and I use these theories to frame my findings and juxtapose them with other research from the field of international/global ECCE. Additionally, because the primary focus of this study is ECCE and ECD, theorists/scholars writing in these fields are also referenced, as I try to make sense of my data and the possible implications for the field of ECCE more broadly.

I take the position that the data collected for this study seems to align itself with the theoretical position highlighted in my initial conceptual framework, namely that

ECCE is perceived and practiced in different ways in different national/subnational contexts, and that these differences seem to be linked to the individual lived-experiences of ECCE practitioners, through the intermediary construct of habitus (Bourdieu, 1994). It is the position taken in this study that early learning is adaptable enough to allow for different models of ECCE to be utilized effectively in different national/subnational settings (Tazouti et al., 2011), and that an approach to ECCE that gives consideration to the importance of the lived-experiences of ECCE educators is less normative, more culturally sensitive and less likely to meet resistance from practitioners (Burton, 2012;

Hedge & Cassidy, 2009; McMullen, Elicker, Wang, Erdiller, Lee, Lin & Sun, 2005). To achieve this, I posit that organizations supporting the global proliferation of ECCE should

283 advocate for the use of hybrid models of ECCE curricula (Fees, Hoover & Zheng, 2014;

Fiske, 2000; Rothbaum, Nagaoka, & Ponte, 2006;), that allow for the inclusion of locally relevant content, while still being in alignment with select ECCE criteria that have general applicability (Ho, Campbell-Barr & Leeson, 2010; Lenn & Hayden, 2009;

Miyahara & Meyers, 2008).

My interpretations of the data give rise to two main, mutually reinforcing theoretical positions. Firstly, I posit that early learning is a highly adaptive phenomenon, and that it is the adaptability of ECD which allows children to have a range of qualitatively different experiences in early-childhood while still developing comparably in key learning domains, such as language acquisition, spatial orientation, gross/fine motor skills, and logical reasoning (Tazouti et al. 2010). From the perspective of international/global ECCE this position is potentially important, because it recognizes that there is not one developmentally appropriate model of ECD, rather the child is capable of learning and developing positively in a number of different social spaces

(Bourdieu, 1994). Such a scenario is advantageous given the heterogeneity of different national/subnational contexts (Bourdieu, 1984). My second argument stipulates that social spaces are never static, but rather are constantly changing and giving rise to new types of social knowledge, or grids (Foucault, 1974), that each new generation of young children must adapt to. Both these arguments will be explored further in the coming sections, as I present my interpretations of the data. My data is open to contrasting analyses and the reader is encouraged to critically interrogate my interpretations and conclusions.

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Interpretation #1: ECCE; Many Approaches, One Positive Outcome.

The field of ECCE is an important one globally, with investments in ECCE deemed to give large economic returns for nation-states (UNICEF, 2001). As part of the

Education for All (EFA) goals UNESCO is advocating for an increase in access to high- quality ECCE programs globally (Fiske, 2000), because ECCE is seen to reduce infant mortality rates (United Nations,2001), decrease the negative influence of low- socioeconomic status (Schweinhart , Barnett, Belfied & Nore, 2005), and improve children’s educational outcomes during primary education (Soudee, 2009). There is evidence to support the theory that different models of high-quality ECCE can lead to comparable educational outcomes (Tazouti et al., 2010), but while there is a demand for the local applicability of ECCE practices (Izumi-Taylor, Lee, & Franceschini, 2011), there is also a desire for unifying international standards (Miyahara & Meyers, 2008). An important question is how should the field of international/global ECCE think about the issues of local applicability and international alignment of ECCE praxis?

It can be said with some certainty that all young children seem to be born with the innate capacity to learn (Chomsky, 1982; Gopnik, 2009; Piaget, 1958; Yang, 2006;

Vygostsky, 1978), irrespective of the mode of ECCE to which they are exposed (Ho,

Campbell-Barr & Leeson, 2010; Kim, Kim, & Maslak, 2005; Tazouti et al., 2010), or even if they remain at home with their families (Schweinhart et al. 2005). In fact, learning seems to be an integral part of the child’s overall development in the early years, and this capacity for learning allows children to adapt their behavior to meet the singular demands of a specific national/subnational context at a given time (Chomsky, 1999;

Chomsky & Piaget, 1979; Yang, 2006).

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It appears to be important for ECCE that from an early age, while the child’s brain is still developing rapidly (Gopnik, 2009), the child is exposed to social environments that are comparable to those found in formal schooling. Such a contention would provide one possible explanation for the efficaciousness of high-quality ECCE in all its forms.

Young children’s predisposition for learning seems ideally suited to ECCE, and research seems to suggest that ECCE offers significantly different learning experiences compared to those available to the child in its home environment. This interpretation helps account for the many positive benefits associated with children attending formal ECCE programs.

Developmentally, kindergarten aged children do not have the same capacities for concentration and focused academic work as older school children do (Chomsky, 1999;

Erikson, 1950; Piaget, 1950; Yang, 2006). The data collected for this study seems to support this position, with all the research participants making educational choices based upon the children’s developmental level and perceived cognitive abilities. However, by becoming accustomed to the rigors and routines involved in formal learning, it seems that children are more prepared to engage in formal instruction at later ages, when educational demands increase. If this argument holds, then it has important implications for international/global ECCE, particularly at a time when formal education is increasingly seen as the primary pathway to future health and prosperity (Irwin, Siddiqi & Hertzman,

2007).

From this standpoint, the key juxtaposition seems not to be between the different models of ECCE, but rather between children who participate in ECCE programs and those who do not (Campbell, 2002; Schweinhart et al., 2005). As Alice made clear, those children who arrive at her kindergarten, who have not attended nursery, find adapting to

286 the structures and rigors of kindergarten to be more difficult than other members of their peer group. The gamut of ECCE is broad, but, compared to the child’s life at home, high- quality ECCE seems to offer distinct and beneficial kinds of learning experiences for young children, irrespective of its form or the national/subnational context. These diverse learning experiences, which occur at a crucial developmental juncture, would seem to instill in children a type of academic resilience that increases their chances of being successful in school and thereby in later life.

To further the efficaciousness of ECCE from an international/global perspective, I posit that it is important for curriculum designers in the field of international ECCE to take advantage of the adaptive nature of early learning, by ensuring that expectations and praxes in ECCE are aligned with the specific requirements of formal education in a given national/subnational context, thus ensuring a smoother transition from one type of educational environment to another. This idea will be further explored in the next section, where I examine the use of standardized ECCE curricula in international/global contexts.

Interpretation #2: Against Universal ECCE Standards and Curriculum

It seems that the inherent flexibility of early learning allows for the utilization of a broad array of ECCE praxes, all of which would seem to have a positive impact upon the child’s learning and development. Such a position appears to be in alignment with the data collected for this research study. Whether the children were experiencing a math lesson with Mariam, or spelling their names and reading their dates of birth before lunch with Alice, they all appeared to be learning and developing in a positive manner. The inherent flexibility of early learning seems important, as it allows children to adapt to the

287 particular social/environmental demands of a given national/subnational context at a given time (Chomsky, 1988; Yang, 2006).

Each national/subnational context generates unique and evolving social practices and forms of knowledge (Bourdieu, 1984, 1994¸ Foucault, 1974). According to Bourdieu

(1994), this generative process is the outcome of social interactions that occur between people living in a given geographic space, at a given time. Bourdieu explains, “The properties which belong to . . . [a] group at a given moment in time [are] because of its position in a determinate social space” (p. 4). Foucault shared Bourdieu’s position

(1974), and stated that the totality of social interactions in a given temporal/geographical space give rise to a constantly evolving grid of socially contingent knowledge, or as he described “A new play with its own rules, decisions and limitations, with its own inner logic, its parameters, and its blind alleys” (p. 18). If Bourdieu and Foucault were correct in their analyses, it would seem to suggest that ECCE curricula need to be adaptable in order to meet the specific requirements of any given national/subnational context.

Concrete examples of how ECCE can be concretely tailored to prepare children to enter a specific national/subnational context can be seen in the data collected for this study. For example, the children in the Lebanese institution were taught three different languages

(Arabic, French and English), because these are the languages which are primarily spoken in Lebanon. On the other hand, bilingual children in the Danish institution were provided with extra Danish language learning support, as Denmark is primarily a monolingual country.

I posit that, given the inherent flexibility of early learning and the evolving social practices and forms of knowledge that exist in each social space, ECCE curricula/praxis

288 should be adaptable and, at least partially, rooted in the specific requirements of a given national/subnational context. Such a conclusion, if correct, speaks against the global application of any single ECCE curriculum, such as Developmentally Appropriate

Practice (DAP) or the French Brevet. Curricula such as DAP and the French Brevet seem to view ECD and ECCE content in axiomatic terms (McMullen et al. 2005), thereby uncritically creating normative conceptions of ECD and ECCE, rooted in Western values

(Burton, 2012; Frere, 1994; Said, 1979, 1993).

Despite extolling the universal applicability of their DAP program, the National

Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 2009) implicitly supports the position that the creation of a definitive set of developmentally appropriate practices is in fact an impossibility, in the face of fluid and ever changing social spaces. The NAEYC states that “the profession’s responsibility to promote quality in the care and education of young children compels us to revisit regularly the validity and currency of our core knowledge and positions” (p. 1). However, when an organization such as NAEYC chooses to revise its approaches and protocols, it conducts its analysis domestically and seems to give little thought to the other countries that utilize their developmentally appropriate model of ECCE.

This analysis seems to align with the position of Paolo Freire (1994), who comments that “Many political and educational plans have failed because their authors designed them according to their own personal views of reality, never once taking into account…the men-in-a-situation to whom their program was ostensibly directed” (p. 75).

Given the extent to which ECCE programs like DAP and the French Brevet are currently utilized outside their country of origin (Burton, 2012; Kim, Kim, & Maslak, 2005; Hall,

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2008; McMullen et al., 2005), it seems to me fitting that such organizations should be aware of problems arising from the use of Western curricula in non-Western settings

(Freire, 1994; Said, 1993; Weng & Len, 2013).

I posit that there appears to be an implicit assumption made by some curriculum designers that developments in one national/subnational context are mirrored by the developments in another, and it seems to be this assumption that allows for the uncritical propagation of Western based models of education globally. The uncritical propagation of Western ECCE curricula to non-Western countries is in all likelihood what leads to resistance towards Western education, and many countries currently consider Western models of ECCE to be ethnocentric and unsuitable for their specific national/subnational requirements (Freire, 1994; Hoffman, 2003; Kim, Kim, & Maslak, 2005). This study concerns itself particularly with the field of international/global ECCE. However, given the field’s connection to formal education more broadly, my findings also have implications for how formal Western education systems are proliferated internationally/globally, and the impact that this can have on given national/subnational contexts. I explore this idea further in the following section.

I take the position that ECCE curricula should be in alignment with the overarching educational goals of each national/subnational context, in order to increase their impact and to prepare children for the rigors of formal schooling in their specific social space (Irwin, Siddiqi and Hertzman, 2007). Problems seem to arise when entire formal education systems are rooted in practices and content derived from other national/subnational contexts, even for elite private institutions such as the Lebanese site.

The specific usage of British language ECCE curricula materials at the Lebanese

290 kindergarten seems to illustrate this point. Although the head of section at the Lebanese kindergarten felt that curricula materials available from American providers were superior, inferior materials were selected because of the school’s preference for British-

English content and language. For elite private Lebanese educational institutions it seems important to maintain strong ties to powerful Western education systems, so that elite students can gain access to prestigious foreign schools and universities at a later date

(Angelopoulou, 2014).

The utilization of foreign curricula may be beneficial for affluent elites, but it also means that educational policy makers in a country like Lebanon become subservient to the whims of Western models of education (Freire, 1994; McMullen et al., 2005).

Perhaps the mechanism by which neocolonialist ECCE programs are uncritically proliferated internationally/globally can be described thusly: ECCE curriculum theorists in post-industrial nations presume that developments in their own educational thinking are mirrored by and transferable to other national/subnational contexts (Said, 1979), irrespective of the cultural histories or requirements of those foreign contexts (Said,

1993), and, due to the benefits provided to elites (Chomsky, 1992; Foucault, 1980; Freire,

1994; Giddens, 1971), the recipient states accept and employ these curricula, even if they are not in direct alignment with the needs of their national/subnational contexts. For curriculum designers working in the field of international/global ECCE it seems wise to remember the words of Edward Said (1979), who said that “It is incumbent upon us to complicate and/or dismantle the reductive formulae and the abstract but potent kind of thought that leads the mind away from concrete human history and experience and into the realms of ideological fiction” (p. xxiii). Based upon my analysis, there does seem to

291 be a danger that failure to take into account the specific histories and requirements of a given national/subnational context can lead to the prevalence of ideological fictions in the field of international/global ECCE.

The lack of alignment between curricula materials and the requirements of a particular national/subnational context has prosaic implications for ECCE practitioners, because they cannot make large-scale alterations to program content or communicate their ECCE experiences with the content providers. This can be seen with the two

Lebanese cases, who on occasion both felt hampered by the strict curriculum demands put upon them. There often seemed to be a tension in their praxes, as they tried to balance the requirements of the curriculum and the individuated needs of their children. As

Mariam noted, “If it were up to me there would be a lot more play, more acting up, more fun…but there is a curriculum that we have to follow”. But, given the prescriptive nature of the curriculum materials, Mariam and Laila do not have the freedom to include more play, acting up or fun in their ECCE classrooms, even if it could be beneficial for the children (Cannella, 1997; Erikson, 1950; Gopnik, 2009; Piaget, 1945).

In educational systems not reliant on foreign ECCE curricula, it seems that greater autonomy can be granted to ECCE educators, and mechanisms can be put in place where the experiences of practitioners in the field can be utilized to modify and further develop national/subnational ECCE program content29. This position is supported by the data from the Danish cases, where both educators have the freedom to constantly create educational activities, based upon their own interpretations of what their children require.

29 https://bupl.dk/paedagogik/laering?opendocument –this website belongs to the largest union for ECCE educators in Denmark. Through the use of forums and conferences, ECCE praxis is debated by members, and BUPL uses the outcomes of these exchanges as the democratic basis upon which to advocate for changes in government ECCE policy at the national and municipal level. 292

Such an approach allows ECCE programs and practitioners to adapt to the evolving needs of a specific national/subnational context, as well as the individuated needs of children.

Certainly, from an international perspective, freedom of method has a role to play in ECCE. Freedom of method allows ECCE educators to adapt their praxes to meet the specific needs of a given group of children on a given day. This is important, given the individualistic and varied nature of early learning (Chomsky, 1988; Gardner, 1993;

Piaget, 1950; Vygotsky, 1986), and the importance of child-centered education practices to the field of ECCE (Horvai, 2010; Rothbaum, Nagoka, & Ponte, 2006). In addition, freedom of method can allow educators to include culturally applicable content, minimizing the totalizing effects of externally mandated standards and curricula. I posit that the use of freedom of method can be a valuable strategy for decreasing the perceived ethnocentricity of foreign ECCE curricula, and thereby reducing tensions between the realities of ECCE practice in a given national/subnational context and the formal requirements of imported ECCE standards. In the next section I will further explore the different ways in which ECCE programs can be adapted to meet the specific requirements of a given national/subnational context, while still meeting some universal criteria for high-quality ECCE to facilitate coordination at the international/global level

(Miyahara & Meyers, 2008).

Interpretation #3: High-quality ECCE; a Spectrum of Approaches

There is consensus in the field of international/global ECCE that to be effective and to offer the multiple benefits associated with early learning, ECCE programs have to be of high-quality (Bennet & Neuman, 2004; Ho et al., 2010; Lenn & Hayden, 2009;

Naudelot et al., 2003). I have previously noted that determining the contours of high-

293 quality ECCE is not always easy, but ECCE scholars have proffered a number of criteria that can help to maintain ECCE program quality in different international/global settings.

Such criteria include utilizing a systematic approach to ECCE (Bennet & Neuman, 2004), adopting a child-centered ECCE strategy (Horvai, 2010), having adequate resources and

ECCE friendly facilities (Paiva, Schneider, Machado, Perinzzo & Duarte, 2009) and having qualified educators (Davis, Freeman, Doherty, Karlsson, Everiss, Couch and

Hinke-Rahnau, 2012). As we shall see, the data collected for this study highlight how broadly these criteria can be interpreted.

Both of the institutions that appear in this study utilize a systematic approach to

ECCE. The Lebanese institution employs a tightly structured syllabus, with the regular use of diagnostic tests to gauge children’s progress in given content areas. Each day is divided up into incremental units, with specific times allotted for specific classes and the content of the lessons typically is derived from standardized curricula materials. In the

Danish institution the day is also divided into different incremental portions, allotting different times to different types of ECCE activities, but the activities are more loosely structured than in the Lebanese cases and the content is often spontaneously composed in the spur of the moment, allowing educators the flexibility to radically alter the structure and content of a day at any given juncture. I posit that both of the approaches seen in this study are systematic, and if my position is correct then it seems to demonstrate how much latitude is available to ECCE practitioners and curriculum designers when creating systematic high-quality international/global ECCE programs.

The four cases in this study all stipulate that they utilize a child-centered approach to ECCE, and this does seem to give positive results, with the children seemingly

294 engaged in the learning activities in both institutions. This is in line with ECCE research, which suggests that high-quality ECCE programs should utilize a child-centered approach to early learning (Brostrom et al., 2010; Horvai, 2010; Rothbaum, Nagoka, &

Ponte, 2006). According to Horvai, a child centered ECCE program should embrace

“cognitive development as well as social, cultural and emotional growth” (p. 400).

Furthermore, Rothbaum, Nagoka, and Ponte (2006) assert that ECCE educators’ sensitivity to the specific and individuated needs of the child is of primary importance in the attainment of high-quality ECCE. However, the ways in which the different educators define child-centered praxis varies, both within each institution, but particularly when compared cross-nationally. Mariam feels that her praxis is child-centered because the children in her class sit at round tables and conduct group work. Leila is interested in the holistic development of the child, and for Alice and Basma child-centered praxis involves allowing the children to make decisions about the types of activities that they wish to participate in. Once again, the data seems to support the idea that abstract ECCE concepts, such as child-centered praxis or a systematic approach to ECCE, can be interpreted broadly, depending on contextual requirements. Like the notion of child- centered ECCE praxis, what constitutes a purposefully designed institutional space also appears to be open to an array of valid interpretations.

Purposefully designed institutional spaces are considered to be a key indicator of

ECCE quality (Paiva et al. 2009). This dovetails with ECD theory, which suggests that in the earliest years of the child’s life the physical environment plays a central role in learning (Erikson, 1950; Piaget, 1950; Vygotsky, 1978; Chomsky, 1988; Yang, 2006).

Both institutions portrayed in this study were purposefully designed as well equipped

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ECCE friendly spaces, but the institutions are in fundamental ways different to each other. The Lebanese kindergarten is part of a much larger school and although the classrooms have been deliberately designed for the purpose of ECCE, the outdoor spaces available have an ad hoc feel to them, because they were not specifically designed for their current purpose. The classrooms are well organized, with every child having a specific place where they sit, where they hang their clothes, where they leave their water bottles and where they store their school work.

The Danish institution was also designed for the purpose of ECCE, but was initially intended to only be a temporary structure that has been renovated over the years.

It was designed to be used in an open plan fashion, but different portions of the building can be screened off to create smaller classroom like areas if required. In the Lebanese classroom, everything has its place, in the Danish institution everything is designed to be moved around at need, even the furniture having wheels to facilitate easy movement.

Both kindergartens are examples of purposefully designed ECCE friendly spaces, but they demonstrate how broadly terms like ECCE friendly spaces can be interpreted. From an international point of view, these institutions show that there is no single way to design high-quality ECCE institutions and that they can be tailored to meet the specific ideological/educational requirements of a particular national/subnational context.

The use of trained ECCE educators is another broadly accepted criterion for high- quality ECCE (Bennett & Neuman 2004; Davis et al., 2012; Garvis & Pendergast, 2015).

All the educators in this study received university level training prior to starting work as

ECCE educators, but the subject content and pedagogical approach experienced by each educator varied. Mariam studied elementary level education, focusing primarily upon

296 subject content, as well as ancillary subjects such as class management and Leila studied child-psychology, but also took courses in abnormal psychology and completed a work placement at an asylum. Both Alice and Basma studied at teacher’s training college in

Copenhagen, but, because there is a thirty-year intervening period between when they completed their training, the contents of the programs were seemingly different. Given the aplomb with which all four educators carry out their work, I conclude that the educational experiences of all four cases must be considered to be of high-quality and have prepared the educators to work effectively in the field of ECCE. None the less, it is interesting to see the variety of educational experiences that can prepare ECCE educators to become high-quality practitioners. In the next section, I will explore the implications of my research findings/analysis for the field of international/global ECCE, by focusing upon how hybrid models, in conjunction with unifying criteria for high-quality ECCE, can potentially be used in international/global settings to garner the positive benefits associated with ECCE programs, while still respecting the importance of local culture.

Interpretation #4: Hybrid Models of ECCE

The findings/analysis of this research study seem to suggest that ECCE is highly adaptable, and can be beneficial in a number of different valid forms (Fenech, Sweller &

Harrison, 2010; Millea, 2014; Penn, 2014; Soudee, 2009), dependent upon the national/subnational context, and the lived-experiences/habitus of the ECCE educators.

Such a position would seem to suggest that an appropriate way to proceed for organizations like UNESCO, who wish to advocate for the introduction of ECCE programs globally, is to utilize hybrid approaches to ECCE curriculum design (Fees,

Hoover, & Zheng, 2014; Rothbaun, Nagoaka, & Ponte, 2006). The use of hybrid ECCE

297 curricula, focusing upon key developmental/learning domains and quality indicators, would allow for some coordination of content and praxis at the international level, ensuring that ECCE is of high-quality, while still allowing local cultural/academic content to inform ECCE praxis at the micro level (Ho, Campbell-Barr & Leeson, 2010).

ECD is highly adaptable and it seems that as long as ECCE content meets the criteria associated with high-quality ECCE, it should produce the desirable positive outcomes associated with ECCE: the reduction of child mortality rates (UN, 2001), the decreasing of the negative influence of low Socio-Economic Status (Schweinhart et al., 2005), and the improving of children’s educational outcomes during primary education (Soudee,

2009).

By utilizing hybrid models of ECCE curricula, international organizations could simultaneously coordinate the initiation of ECCE programs in many different countries, while minimizing the risks involved in the uncritical transfer of ECCE Western styled programs and praxes. Hybrid models of ECCE should be flexible enough to grant the educators some autonomy to tailor their praxes to meet the specific requirements of individual children in a given program. Additionally, a hybrid approach to ECCE that grants some autonomy to ECCE educators, would allow for increased incorporation of local cultural practices (such as songs, rhymes, stories, games, foods and national celebrations) into ECCE, thereby reducing the ethnocentricity of externally derived models of ECCE. The inclusion of culturally specific materials can make ECCE institutions centers for domestic cultural reproduction (Bourdieu, 1994; Foucault, 1974).

Such an approach can be particularly important in post-conflict countries such as

Lebanon, where there are sectarian tensions, by helping to foster a climate of tolerance

298 and respect for local cultural diversity. In a country like Denmark, that has historically been homogeneous but is currently becoming increasingly multicultural, educator autonomy to include culturally related content allows ECCE programs to incorporate cultural materials relevant to bilingual children, allowing them to feel that their home culture is respected and valued by their educators and peers.

A hybrid approach to ECCE also acknowledges that the content and praxes of

ECCE are not static, but rather are closely linked to changes within a given society, and, therefore, that constant revisions are needed in order to meet the ever shifting requirements that arise in a given national/subnational context (NAEYC, 2009). Curricula experts in the field of international and global ECCE should acknowledge the diverse and ever changing knowledge base upon which ECCE rests (Bourdieu, 1994; Hoffman, 2003;

Foucault, 1974). A hybrid approach to ECCE would allow ECCE curricula and praxis to evolve organically over time, incorporating new knowledge/praxis as and when required.

A hybrid approach to ECCE at the national/subnational level could also allow the experiences and praxes of ECCE educators to influence policy decisions and curriculum development, thereby allowing new best-practices to emerge from the field. For organizations like UNESCO, the utilization of such a model of ECCE would allow them to coordinate different approaches to ECCE in different national/subnational contexts and utilize feedback mechanisms, so that best practices drawn from the field could, if appropriate, be used to enrich ECCE praxis in other contexts and enrich the knowledge base of the field of ECCE globally (Ho et al., 2010). I posit that hybrid ECCE programs that grant ECCE educators the autonomy to make decisions about program content and

299 use their lived-experiences to inform their praxis are less ethnocentric and also more responsive to the needs of children in ECCE programs around the world.

The results of this comparative case-study suggest that there is a link between the national/subnational context in which the ECCE educator resides, their lived-experiences, habitus, perceptions and praxes. This finding is potentially important because it suggests that advocates for international/global ECCE should support the use of multiple differing curricula, tailored to meet the specific educational requirements of a given national/subnational context. Extant research supports the idea that there are multiple valid interpretations of ECCE (Penn, 2014; Soudee, 2009), and that differing models of

ECCE can produce approximate educational outcomes (Tazouti et al., 2010). The data collected for this study seems to align with this position and my findings would seem to undermine the idea that there is a single developmentally appropriate practice, best suited for the creation of high-quality ECCE learning environments everywhere in the world.

Instead, it is perhaps better to talk about a spectrum of potential developmentally appropriate practices that can change over time due to the specific but evolving requirements of each national/subnational context. I take the position that the field of

ECCE needs to acknowledge the fact that early learning is a highly adaptive capacity

(Chomsky, 1988; Erikson, 1950; Piaget, 1950; Yang, 2006; Vygotsky, 1978) and that international/global models of ECCE can take on many forms, while still corresponding to some fundamental quality indicators (Bennet & Neuman, 2004; Davis et al., 2012;

Paiva et al., 2009).

I posit that the two international sites selected for this research study, despite their differences in approach and educational ideology, both qualify as high-quality ECCE

300 institutions, demonstrating the inherent flexibility of ECCE, and how high-quality ECCE programs can be created to meet the specific educational requirements of different social spaces. This position does not mean that Western ECD theories (Erikson, 1950;

Chomsky, 1988; Piaget, 1950; Vygotsky, 1978), or conceptions of ECCE should be discarded (NAEYC, 2009), as they can serve as a useful basis for research and debate in international contexts (Hamaidi, Homidi, & Reyes, 2012). However, they should not be viewed as axioms that are automatically favored above non-Western conceptions of ECD and ECCE (Burton, 2012).

Conceptual Framework Revisited

As noted previously in this chapter, my research study was guided by a conceptual framework (see figure 11) which I first presented in Chapter two. The data collection/analysis

Figure 8. Conceptual Framework phase of this study has enhanced my understanding of the role played by the educator’s professional lived-experiences in the field of ECCE, and I posit that the findings of this study align with the basic position presented in my initial conceptual framework, that the

301 habitus (Bourdieu, 1994), perceptions (Adler, 1955), and praxes of ECCE educators are informed by the ECCE practitioners’ lived-experiences (van Manen, 1990), and that lived-experiences are in turn influenced by the socio-cultural context in which the ECCE educator lives. I believe that the individuated nature of lived-experience and perception allows different ECCE educators to contribute in unique ways to the field of ECCE and help to create rich and stimulating early learning environments for children. Therefore, I take the position that international organizations engaged in the proliferation of ECCE programs globally should make formal attempts at the curriculum level to value the individuated nature of ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes. I believe that such an approach would create richer and more dynamic early learning environments, and could help to reduce resistance to non-domestic models of ECCE, due to their perceived ethnocentricity and lack of local applicability.

In the context of this study, I define the construct of Habitus as the operationalization of Bourdieu’s concept of Habitus, i.e. the cohesive and coherent synthesis of the individual’s lived-experiences, “giving rise to an affinity of style”

(Bourdieu, 1993, p.8). I posit that direct linkages can be made between the educators’ lived-experiences and their perceptions and praxes, through the mediating medium of the

Habitus. As I have referenced previously, there was some difficulty accessing information directly relating to the participants’ Habitus due to its unconscious nature.

This fact meant that I had to make inference to the presence of habitus based upon evidence drawn from the participants’ lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes. This led me to present the data relating to Habitus last for each case, so that I could support my assertions with data from the other constructs. Despite this issue, I feel that the use of the

302 construct of Habitus was warranted in this study, as it provided rich and in-depth information about the four cases that would not have been available otherwise.

My theoretical lens of critical theory also helped me to critique the unity of discursive regularities present in the field of ECCE, such as the perceived global applicability of ECCE programs such as DAP (Bourdieu, 1994; Foucault, 1972, 1974; ;

Freire, 1994; Said, 1979). It became apparent during my analysis/interpretations that “as soon as one questions…unity, it loses it self-evidence; it indicates itself, constructs itself, only on the basis of a complex field of discourse” (Foucault, 1972, p. 23). By questioning the discursive regularities in the field of international/global ECCE, I hope to provoke curriculum specialists to value the lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes of ECCE practitioners in different national/subnational contexts and to see ECCE practitioners as a resource that can be drawn upon to help create rich and stimulating ECCE experiences for young children internationally/globally.

However, during the data collection and analysis portion of this study I believe that I have come to a greater appreciation of the idiosyncratic and temporal nature of the social spaces that Bourdieu’s (1994) theories were trying to describe, and the grids of social knowledge that they give rise to (Foucault, 1974). Therefore, I have modified my conceptual framework to highlight how temporal social spaces/grids influence the lived- experiences of ECCE educators, giving rise to diverse perceptions of ECD and ECCE praxes. This has been achieved in my revised conceptual framework by explicitly highlighting the theories of Foucault (1974) and Bourdieu (1994) that informed my analysis/interpretations of the data.

303

In my revised conceptual framework I have opted to maintain the nested ecological design. I preserve the constructs of the ECCE Educator’s Lived-Experiences,

Habitus, Perceptions, and Praxis, but I have changed the title of Socio-cultural Context to

Social Spaces/Grids to highlight how these particular theories of Foucault (1974) and

Bourdieu (1994) have informed my thinking during the analysis/interpretation phase of my study. In addition, I have removed the outer Critical Theory circle from the initial model, so as to avoid confusion as to how the Critical Theories of Foucault and Bourdieu have influenced my analysis and interpretations.

Finally, I have added a second figure to the conceptual framework that represents the phenomenon of ECD in ECCE. I view ECD as being ontological in nature, rooted in the complex and evolving physiology of the human life-cycle (Chomsky, 1988; Erikson,

1950; Gopnik, 2009; Piaget, 1950; Vygotsky, 1978; Yang, 2006). For the purposes of this modified conceptual framework I define ontology as the study of phenomena in the plurality of the physical world (vielfalt, Kant, 1781). I posit that it is the grid, arising from temporal social spaces, through the intermediary constructs of lived-experience and habitus, which determine the types of epistemologies that ECCE educators employ when working with children. For the purposes of this modified conceptual framework, I define epistemology as the ways in which humans interpret ontology. The ontological nature of

ECD can account for the convergences seen in the cross-national comparison conducted for this study. However, I posit that it is the unique nature of the temporal social spaces/grids, which accounts for the divergences seen between the perceptions and praxes of the Lebanese and Danish participants in this study. The arrows connecting the construct of ECD (ontology) to my conceptual framework are bi-directional to highlight

304 the dialectical relationship that I perceive to exist between the ontology of ECD and the epistemologies that arise in a given social space. As noted, as long as ECCE conforms to certain broad criteria for high-quality the positive benefits associated with ECCE should arise, but curriculum specialists working in the field of international/global ECCE should be aware that the ontology of ECD can give rise to an array of valid interpretations, and that these epistemologies arise in part due to the unique nature of social spaces/grids.

Figure 9. Revised Conceptual Framework

305

Future Research

This exploratory study has uncovered a number of issues that could prove to be fruitful avenues for further research. To follow up on the findings of this study, it would be interesting to further explore how ECCE educators in different countries perceive

ECCE and ECCE praxis. To further investigate this area, a questionnaire could be created using both 5-point Likert scale questions and open ended questions (Wiersma & Jurs,

2009). The Likert scale questions could include “children should be permitted to choose the content of educational activities”, or “children in ECCE programs need structured lessons in order to learn”. The participants would be given 5 potential responses: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree. The open-ended questions would ask more specifically about ECCE educators’ perceptions of praxis. The open-ended questions could include, “what are the characteristics of a good learning activity in

ECCE”, or “how do you know when you have been an effective ECCE educator?” The

Likert scale questions would provide quantitative data for analysis and the open-ended questions would be coded for emerging themes. The questionnaire could be distributed in a number of countries, to investigate whether the variations of perceptions and praxes in

ECCE uncovered in this research study are present in other countries as well.

A key issue that arose in the literature review for this study, and was supported by findings in my data, is how the field of ECCE is often viewed as a low status profession.

To explore this issue further it would be interesting to create a study that focuses upon stakeholders’ perspectives on the field of ECCE. Stakeholders would include parents, school officials/principals, ministry of education representatives and ECCE practitioners.

A mixed methods study, utilizing both surveys and in-depth semi-structured interviews,

306 could provide interesting data about general perceptions of the field of ECCE. It could also be interesting, resources permitting, to construct a cross-national study to compare perceptions of the field of ECCE in different national contexts, to see if national context influences stakeholders’ views of ECCE.

The data collected in this study seems to suggest that teacher training plays an important role in creating high-quality ECCE programs. Given the array of possible approaches to ECCE it would be interesting to conduct a , comparative, case-study of

ECCE educators who have recently completed their training. Such a study could explore the lived-experiences of the practitioners as they transition from teacher training to working in the field of ECCE. It would explore what training the ECCE educators received and how they believe it has prepared them to work professionally in the field of

ECCE. Such a case-study could combine in depth semi-structured interviews with ECCE practitioners, semi-structured interviews with their former teacher trainers, as well as classroom observations and document analysis of teacher training materials and curricula.

To continue on the subject of teacher training in ECCE, it would be interesting to create an in-service ECCE training module for the educators at the Lebanese site, which focuses upon the use of freedom of method in ECCE classrooms. In-service training is common in Lebanon, and Mariam notes in her interviews how she learned to differentiate her instruction during in-service training. Following the completion of the in-service training module, a single period per week (over the course of a semester) would be assigned for the homeroom teachers to conduct activities based upon their own ideas, or those of the children. Such a program change would be evaluated both during the program and at the end of the semester, using interviews and observations (Weiss, 1998).

307

The goal of the evaluation would be to see if the homeroom teachers feel that the ECCE environment is less stressful for the children under the new conditions, and whether freedom of method allows those children struggling under the current system (the low achievers) to flourish in new areas.

This cross national comparative case study into the impact of national/subnational culture on ECCE has been a rewarding endeavor, forcing me as the researcher to reexamine my own attitudes to the field of international/global ECCE. My results/analysis/interpretations suggest that in the future there can be many different ways in which the field can be approached and that instead of aiming to adopt a single model of ECCE globally, the ECCE community should utilize a spectrum of approaches, to enrich the praxes of practitioners in different national/subnational settings. I believe that the results of this study stand as a testament to the creativity, ingenuity, and dedication of

ECCE practitioners, and I wish to advocate curriculum designers to respect and value their daily contributions to ECCE.

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and globalized (Beck, 2000;

Giddens 1990), I believe that it is important that values such as tolerance and respect of cultural differences are promoted internationally and globally, so as to combat of sectarianism, radicalism and racism. ECCE has an important role to play in promoting such positive values, but institutions who advocate for the global introduction of ECCE programs such as UNESCO and WHO have to be aware that the established practices of program and policy borrowing can be viewed as not sufficiently valuing or protecting local indigenous culture. Therefore, I believe that there is a need for curriculum specialists to invent new models of globally orientated ECCE, which can incorporate

308 local cultural practices and the lived-experiences of ECCE practitioners. Such strategies should strive to foster greater levels of ECCE educator autonomy, thereby allowing a rich field of ECCE praxes to emerge, that can help to promote peace, respect and prosperity around the world.

309

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Appendices

Appendix A

Institutional introductory letters/informed consent.

Before acquiring consent from the individual ECCE educators a formal introduction is required to the potential research sites. This introduction takes the form of an introductory letter that provides a broad outline of the purpose of research and the research design and the methods that will be used to collect data. The letter was initially written in Danish and then translated into English.

Lebanese introductory letter.

Dear sir or madam,

My name is Morten Greaves and I am writing to you because I am about to conduct research for my doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the George

Washington University in Washington D.C. My area of focus is Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in international settings. I trained as an ECCE educator in

Denmark prior to beginning my doctoral degree. For my doctoral dissertation I am interested in collecting data in both Lebanon and in Denmark and I am interested in finding a Lebanese ECCE institution that would grant me permission to conduct a series of observations and interviews with staff during a six-week period. My research is interested in examining the role national culture plays in determining how practitioners in the field of ECCE view and conduct their work. I suggest in my dissertation that although individual ECCE educators in Lebanon can have different ideas about how and why children develop and learn, many of these ideas will still be rooted in the norms and values that exist in the country. By comparing and contrasting these ideas with those of

330 professional ECCE educators in Denmark I wish to draw attention to the important role culture plays in the field of international and global ECCE.

ECCE is currently attracting attention around the world due to research pointing to the positive influence ECCE programs have on child development and early learning.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has set the goal of increasing access to ECCE programs around the world. In order to achieve this goal it is important to understand how local/national culture influences how ECCE practitioners understand and conduct their work. Therefore, it is my intention to study how lived-experiences (experiences accumulated throughout life) influence ECCE educators views of Early Childhood Development (ECD) and ECCE and how these viewpoints influence praxis (the everyday work of ECCE practitioners). I will achieve this goal by conducting what is called a , comparative case-study. I will spend 6 weeks at an ECCE institution in Lebanon and then six weeks at an ECCE institution in Denmark.

During the course of these six weeks I will spend three weeks in two early learning classrooms in the same institution, where I will conduct a series of classroom observations, participate in the daily life in the classroom and conduct three separate 90 minute interviews with the ECCE educator. The interviews will attempt to examine how the educator’s lived-experiences influence how they view and comprehend both ECD and

ECCE. The results of my data collection will be compared with the data collected in

Denmark. I would like to thank you in advance for your time,

Yours sincerely,

Morten Greaves

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Danish introductory letter.

Mit navn er Morten Greaves, og jeg skriver til jer, fordi jeg skal til at lave research til min doktor grad. Jeg har fået jeres kontakt information fra UCC, som jeg samarbejder med. Jeg er uddannet pædagog og læser for tiden en doktor grad i

Curriculum and Instruction (pensum og indlæring) på George Washington universitet i

Washington D.C., og mit research område fokuserer på, hvordan børnehave pædagogik bliver anskuet og udført rundt i verden. Til min doktorafhandling er jeg interesseret i at lave data-indsamling i både Danmark og Libanon, og jeg ude på at finde en dansk børnehave, som vil give mig tilladelse til at lave observationer og interviews i løbet af en seks ugers periode. Min research går ud på at undersøge, hvilken betydning kultur har for det barnesyn, der eksisterer i det pågældende land. Jeg antager, at selvom individuelle pædagoger I Danmark kan have forskellige meninger om, hvordan børn udvikler sig, lærer og trives, vil disse meninger måske have meget tilfælles og/eller være anderledes fra de børnesyn, som man kan finde I Libanon, og om disse forskelle skyldes de kulturelle normer og værdier, der eksisterer i de to lande.

I disse år tiltrækker tidlig indlæring stor opmærksomhed internationalt og the

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization har sat som deres mål at fremme adgang til tidlige indlærings programmer verden over. For at opnå dette mål, er det vigtigt at forstå hvilken betydning lokal/national kultur har for pædagogers barnesyn. Derfor er det min intention at undersøge, hvordan børnehave pædagogers livserfaringer (det som på engelsk hedder lived-experiences) påvirker deres anskuelse af de børn, som de arbejder med, og hvordan disse anskuelser er med til at forme deres praksis. Det vil jeg gøre ved at udføre en komparativ case-study, hvor jeg tilbringer 6

332 uger på en børnehave i Libanon og efterfølgende 6 uger i Danmark. Tiden jeg skal tilbringe, er tre uger på to forskellige stuer i den samme børnehave, hvor jeg arbejder sammen med to forskellige pædagoger. I løbet af de tre uger på hver stue, skal jeg lave en række observationer, hvor jeg ser på, hvordan det daglige liv foregår, og hvilke former for interaktioner, der opstår imellem børn og pædagoger. Disse observationer vil nogle gange kræve, at jeg sidder og observerer og tager notater, og andre gange at jeg deltager i det daglige liv i stuen. Jeg har mange års erfaring med at arbejde som pædagog- medhjælper/pædagog i Danmark og blev færdig uddannet som pædagog fra UCC

Nordsjælland i 2011. Udover disse observationer vil min research også kræve, at jeg udfører tre interviews med hver pædagog i løbet af de tre uger, jeg er på deres stue. Disse interviews vil prøve at undersøge, hvordan pædagogers livs-erfaringer (lived- experiences) og oplevelser igennem deres uddannelse og arbejde har indflydelse på deres barnesyn og deres syn på praksis. Resultaterne fra min data-indsamling i Danmark vil blive sammenlignet med data indsamlet I Libanon.

På forhånd takker jeg jer for jeres hjælp,

Med venlig hilsen

Morten Greaves

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Informed consent form English.

INTRODUCTION

You are invited to participate in a research study being carried out by Morten

Greaves under the guidance of his graduate school advisor, Dr. Colin Green at The

George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human

Development.

You are being asked to participate in this study because you work in the field of Early

Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in the countries of Lebanon and Denmark. You are one of four ECCE educators being asked to take part in this study, two educators in

Lebanon and two in Denmark. Participating in this study is completely voluntary and participants are free to leave the study at any time.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence that national culture has upon the lived-experiences (experiences accumulated throughout the course of life) of ECCE educators and how these experiences influence educators’ perspectives of their work in the field of ECCE. ECCE is an important and emerging field internationally and ECCE programs are seen to offer a broad range of benefits, from reducing child mortality rates, to reducing the negative influences of socio-economic status and improving children’s educational outcomes. It is thought that to be effective global ECCE programs must meet certain universal criteria for high-quality. However such criteria have been criticized as being ethnocentric and failing to recognize the values and needs of specific countries or regions. The important role that national culture plays in determining how ECCE educators view and carry out their work is supported by research and this study wishes to

334 document and compare ECCE educators’ lived-experiences, perceptions and praxes in

Denmark and Lebanon.

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN THE STUDY?

Permission is hereby requested to come and observe daily life in your ECCE classroom for a period of three weeks. During this time, detailed observations of life in your classroom will be made, looking at how you interact with the children in your care, what kind of activities characterize daily life in the classroom and what types of learning situations arise during the course of a day. In addition to observing and taking notes in your classroom, your permission is requested for the researcher to also participate in some of the activities taking place in your classroom, as this would provide additional insight into the daily life in your classroom. Morten Greaves is a qualified ECCE educator with many years of experience in this field and he has worked with ECCE in both Lebanon and Denmark. Finally, it is requested that you participate in three in-depth interviews, one at the end of each week. Key topics covered in these interviews will be your understanding of the field of ECCE, your personal background, how you first became involved in ECCE, your training and your work experiences. These interviews will be recorded and transcribed for analysis.

RISKS

This study is organized as a low-risk study, but participating in qualitative research will always involve a certain amount of risk for participants. The primary source of risk in this study comes from the in-depth interviews. Questions will be asked about the participants’ childhood, in an attempt to understand whether childhood experiences play a role in forming how ECCE educators perceive and conduct their work. Without

335 prior understanding of the participants’ backgrounds, it is difficult to predict if certain topic areas are sensitive. In addition, talking about the participants’ current environment can also potentially uncover sensitive information.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Due to the inherent risks involved in doing human subject research, confidentiality will play an important role in the data collection. Your real names will not appear anywhere in this study. Instead pseudonyms will always be used. In published articles that may emerge from this research no information that could possibly identify you will be included. Records of this study, including interview transcriptions and observation notes, will be kept private. Other than members of the research team, only the Internal Review Board of The George Washington University that is responsible for overseeing research safety and compliance may review records. After five years all records from this study will be destroyed.

BENEFITS

One of the primary goals of this study is to give voice to the experiences and perspectives of ECCE educators. This means that the researchers will endeavor to understand and faithfully document your experiences and viewpoints on ECCE. The intention is not to critique or evaluate the quality of your work, but rather to appreciate the different ways that ECCE is viewed and practiced in different countries. By participating in this study you can also, in a small way, help to inform how the field of

ECCE is viewed, not just in your country but also internationally.

336

THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTICIPANT

As a participant in this research, you have the right to leave the study at any juncture, without explanation or qualification. Leaving this study will have no impact upon your professional life in any way. In addition, you will be welcomed and encouraged to examine your interview transcripts.

QUESTIONS

If you have questions, concerns, complaints, or think you have been harmed you can contact The George Washington Internal Review Board: telephone, +1 202-994-

2715; email, [email protected]. Other questions relating to the content of the study can be addressed to Morten Greaves at [email protected]

DOCUMENTATION OF CONSTENT

Name (please print) and Signature of Participant: Date

______

337

Informed consent form Danish.

INTRODUKTION

Jeg takker for din accept til at deltage i en Phd forskningsundersøgelse, der bliver udført af Morten Greaves under vejledning af Dr. Colin Green fra George Washington

Universitets Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

Du er som en af fire pædagoger blevet bedt om at deltage i denne undersøgelse, fordi du arbejder indenfor børnepædagogisk regi (in the field of Early Childhood Care and

Education også kaldt ECCE). Der er 2 danske og 2 libanesiske børnehavepædagoger involveret i forskningen. Deltagelse i denne undersøgelse er fuldstændig frivillig og particispanterne kan forlade undersøgelsen på hvilket som helst tidspunkt.

FORMÅL

Forskningens formål er at udforske den nationale kulturs påvirkning af pædagogers (ECCE educators) egne livserfaringer, og hvordan disse perspektiver har indflydelse på deres opfattelse af deres professionelle arbejde. ECCE er et betydningsfuldt og spirende område på internationalt plan og ECCE indlærings programmer tilbyder en række gavnlige fordele, som for eksempel: reducering af børnedødelighed, reduktion af negative påvirkninger fra en socioøkomisk status og forbedring af børns undervisningsresultater. Tanken er, at for at globale ECCE programmer kan være effektive, må særlige universale kriterier være til stede, for at sikre en høj kvalitet i udførelsen. Imidlertid er sådanne kriterier blevet kritiseret for at være etnocentriske og ikke i stand til at genkende værdier og behov i forskellige lande og regioner. Den vigtige rolle, som den nationale kultur spiller, afgør hvordan pædagoger anskuer og udfører deres arbejde, hvilket er understøttet af forskningsresultater indenfor

338 området. Denne undersøgelse ønsker at dokumentere og sammenligne pædagogers livserfaringer, opfattelser og professionelle praksis i Danmark og Libanon.

HVAD GÅR DENNE UNDERSØGELSE UD PÅ?

Jeg beder hermed om tilladelse til at komme og observere det daglige liv i jeres stue i en periode på 3 uger. Gennem dette tidsforløb vil detaljerede observationer af aktiviteter på stuen blive foretaget. Disse observationer vil omfatte, hvordan du interagerer med børnene, du er ansvarlig for, hvilke aktiviteter, der karakteriserer det daglige liv på stuen, og hvilke typer indlæringssituationer, der opstår i dagens løb. Ud over at observere og tage notater, bedes ydermere om tilladelse til at deltage i nogen af aktiviteterne, som finder sted på stuen, da dette vil give yderligere indsigt i det daglige liv. Morten Greaves er uddannet pædagog med mange års erfaring inden for dette område, og han har arbejdet med ECCE programmer både i Libanon og Danmark.

Afslutningsvis er det anmodet, at du deltager i dybtgående samtaler, en ved afslutningen af hver uge. Hovedemner for disse samtaler vil være din forståelse af børnehavepædagogik, din personlige baggrund, hvornår du startede din karriere, din uddannelse og arbejdserfaring. Disse samtaler vil blive optaget og transskriberet for senere analyse.

RISICI

Denne undersøgelse er designet som værende af lav risiko; men deltagelse i kvalitativ forskning vil altid være forbundet med en vis risiko for deltagerne. Den primære kilde for risici i denne undersøgelse vil stamme fra de dybtgående samtaler.

Spørgsmål vil blive stillet angående deltagernes barndom i et forsøg på at forstå, om

339 barndomsoplevelser spiller en rolle i pædagogens måde at opfatte og udføre deres arbejde på. Uden forudgående forståelse af deltagernes baggrunde er det vanskeligt at forudse, hvis særlige emneområder er følsomme. Ydermere kan samtale om deltagernes nuværende omgivelser også potentielt afdække følsomme oplysninger.

FORTROLIGHED

På grund af de iboende risici, der er involveret, når man foretager menneske forskning, vil fortrolighed spille en vigtig rolle ved dataindsamlingen. Personlige oplysninger vil ikke figurere nogen steder i denne undersøgelse. I stedet vil pseudonymer altid blive brugt. I publicerede artikler, som muligvis vil fremstå på baggrund af denne forskning, vil ingen oplysninger, der kunne identificere dig, blive inkluderet.

Registreringer af denne undersøgelse, inklusive transskriptioner af samtaler og observations notater, vil blive holdt private. Udover medlemmer af forskningsholdet og kun ”the Internal Review Board of the George Washington University”(kan sammenlignes med et etiske råd), som er ansvarlig for tilsynet med forsknings sikkerhed og dens overholdelse, vil måske gennemgå data. Efter 5 år vil alle data angående denne forskning blive slettet.

FORDELE

Et af de primære mål med denne undersøgelse, er at udtrykke pædagogers erfaringer og synspunkter. Dette betyder, at forskerne vil forsøge at forstå og trofast dokumentere dine erfaringer og synspunkter indenfor børnehavepædagogik. Hensigten er ikke at kritisere eller evaluere kvaliteten af dit arbejde; men hellere påskønne de forskellige måder børnehave pædagogik er opfattet og udøvet i forskellige lande. Ved at deltage i denne undersøgelse, kan du også på en lille måde hjælpe med at oplyse om,

340 hvordan børnehavepædagogik er opfattet, ikke kun i dit eget land; men også på det internationale plan.

DELTAGERNES RETTIGHEDER

Som deltager i denne forskning har du ret til at forlade undersøgelsen på hvilket som helst tidspunkt uden nogen form for forklaring. At forlade undersøgelsen vil på ingen måde have indflydelse på din professionelle karriere overhovedet. Ydermere vil du være velkommen og tilskyndet til nøje at gennemgå din samtale transskriptioner.

SPØRGSMÅL

Hvis du har spørgsmål, bekymringer, klager eller synes du på nogen måde er blevet skadet, kan the George Washington Internal Review Board kontaktes på telefon +1

202-994-2715; email ohrirb@edu. Yderligere spørgsmål angående forskningsindholdet kan blive sendt til Morten Greaves at [email protected]

SAMTYKKEERKLÆRING

______navn (blokbogstaver) deltagers underskrift dato

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Appendix B

Interview protocols.

These interview protocols will be used to record data during the in-depth interview series that will be carried out in the two ECCE centers, one in Denmark and one in Lebanon. The interviews aim to gain an understanding of ECCE educators’ lived experiences, habitus and perceptions and how these influence the participants’ ECCE praxis. Interview 1 focuses specifically upon the ECCE educators’ hermeneutic interpretations of their prior lived experiences. All the questions focus upon asking the

ECCE educator to reflect upon their current interpretations. Interviews 2 and 3 focus upon the ECCE educators’ current perceptions of ECCE.

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Interview #1 Demographic questions What is your name? What is your age? How many years have you worked at this institution? How many years have you been working as an ECCE educator? Childhood/family Describe your childhood (parents, siblings, extended family, and friends). Can you describe your parents’ approach to child-rearing? What are your personal recollections of ECCE as a child? Describe your schooling (age of school start, types of schools attended, experiences of schooling, grades, favorite subjects, extracurricular activities, and important teachers). First contact with ECCE How did you first come in to contact with the field of ECCE? What were your initial experiences and impressions of ECCE? What did you find interesting/attractive about ECCE? What did you find difficult? ECCE training Why did you choose to become an ECCE educator? Describe your training to become an ECCE educator (location, duration, theoretical content, work experiences, finances, important people, joys and problems). How did your perspective of ECCE change during your training? Have you participated in professional development courses for ECCE? Describe. Professional experiences What was your first job as an ECCE educator? How did working in the field change your perspective of ECCE? What was difficult? What was easy? Demografisk Spørgsmål Hvad er dit navn? Hvor gammel er du? Hvor mange år har du arbejdet her? Hvor maange år har du arbejdet som pædagog? Bardommen/familie Beskrive dit barndom. Hvordan opdraget din forældre jer? Hvordan husker du dit barndom? Beskrive dit skolegang Første kontakt med pædagogik

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Hvordan kom du først i kontakt med pædagogik Hvad var dit første indtryk af pædagogik? Hvad var det som du syntes var interessant med hensyn til pædagogik? Hvad var svært? Pædagog uddannelse Hvorfor valgt du at træne til pædagog? Beskrive din pædagog uddannelse. Hvordan ændret dit syn på pædagogik under uddannelsen? Har du fortaget dig efteruddannelse? Beskrive Professionel erfaringer Hvad var dit første job som pædagog? Hvordan har din erfaringer ændret dit syn på pædagogik? Hvad har været svært? Hvad har været nemt?

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Interview #2 Typical day at work Describe a typical day at work (This is an overarching question and can potential examine: interactions with children, interactions with other staff and parents, difficulties and joys). What is the importance of décor? How does décor influence ECCE praxis? Describe your interactions with children’s parents. What is the role of the children’s family in ECCE? Describe your interactions with other staff members. How do you and the other staff support each other? How are activities planned? How are activities assessed? What are the goals of ECCE activities? Are the activities rooted in ECCE research or ECCE theories? How? Personal views of ECCE How would you characterize high-quality ECCE? What in your mind are the primary goals pf ECCE (i.e. democratization, school- preparedness, socialization) and why? How would you describe the role of the ECCE educator in ECCE? How do you know when you are being a successful ECCE educator? Examples. How do you know when you are being an unsuccessful ECCE educator? Examples. Have your perceptions developed/changed through your work experience? If so, how? What are your personal goals as an ECCE educator? How do your personal goals influence your praxis? How do your curriculum and lesson plans influence your praxis? What theories (if any) of ECD/ECCE have influenced your praxis and why? Is play an important component of ECCE? Why? What role does care play in your ECCE praxis? Typiske arbejdsdag Beskrive en typisk arbejdsdag. Hvilket betydning har indretning? Hvordan påvirker indretning pædagogisk praksis? Beskrive din interacktioner med forældre. Hvilket rolle spiller familien i pædagogik? Beskrive din interaktioner med din medarbejder Hvordan støtter medarbejder hinanden på dit arbejde? Hvordan planlægger i aktiviteter? Hvordan bedømmer i om aktiviteter har fungeret?

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Hvad er målet med pædagogisk aktiviteter? Er jeres aktiviteter bundet i pædagogisk teori og research?

Personlig opfattelse af pædagogik Hvordan vil du beskrive højkvalitet pædagogik? Hvad, efter din mening, er hovedformålet med pædagogik? Hvad er pædagogens rolle i pædagogik? Hvordan ved du når dit indsats har været vellykket? Hvordan ved du når din indsats har mislykket? Har dit anskuelse af pædagogik ændret sig med erfaring? Hvad er dit personlig pædagogiske mål? Hvordan påvirker pensum dit praksis? Hvilket teorier har påvirket dit anskuelse af pædagogik og hvorfor? Er leg et vigtigt del af pædagogik? Hvilket rolle spiller omsorg i dit praksis?

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Interview #3 Perceptions of ECD In what ways do you feel children in ECCE programs develop (socially, linguistically, motor-skills, academically, play)? Explain. In your experience what abilities do children typically have at the beginning of ECCE (early language, basic motor skills, play, social interaction, potty trained, able to walk, run, climb, paint, sing)? In your experience what abilities typically develop during children’s time in ECCE? How do children acquire new abilities at this age? How do children learn best at this age (copying, exploring, discipline, play, teacher led activities, child-centered activities) and why? What are children capable of learning at this age (academic subject matter, interpersonal- skills, complex motor-skills etc.)? Is academic learning important in ECCE? Why? Do children receive academic tuition in your program? Which subjects and what content? Why are these subjects important for children in this age group? Is there anything children should not be taught at this age (science, religion etc)? How important is structure in supporting child-learning (heavily structured learning scenarios to unstructured play) and why? What is the role of the ECCE educator in facilitating learning, and why? Describe an event where you facilitated learning. Is child discipline/self-control important in ECCE? How do children navigate classroom rules? Give examples. Do the children have any say in the content of classroom rules? Do children play a role in determining the content of day to day life in the ECCE center, how and why? How do you feel your perceptions of ECCE affect the children in your care? Can you provide examples? Opfattelse af tidligbarndommen Hvordan opfatter du at børn i børnehaven udvikler sig? Forklare. I din erfaring, hvilket evner har børn når de starter i børnehaven? Hvordan lære børn i børnehaven? Hvilket måder lære børn bedst i dette aldersgruppe? Hvilket ting evner børn at lære i dette aldersgrupper? Er akademisk læring vigtigt i pædagogik? Modtager børn akademisk undervisning i jere institution? I så fald, hvilket fag og indhold? Er der noget som børn ikke skulle lære i børnehaven?

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Hvor vigtig er struktur som del af pædagogisk praksis? Hvilket rolle spiller pædagogen i børnenes læring? Er disciplin vigtigt i pædagogik? Hvordan håndtere børn regler i børnehaven? Har børnene ret til at bestemme over regelerne i børnehaven? Hvorfor? Hvordan tror du at dit pædagogisk anskuelse påvirker børnenes oplevelser? Give eksempler.

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Appendix C

Observation protocols.

These observation protocols will be used to record data during observer participation and participant observations carried out in two ECCE centers, one in

Denmark and one in Lebanon. The purpose of these observations is to gain an understanding of ECCE educators’ lived experiences, habitus and perceptions and how these influence ECCE praxis. Observations will be broken into three themes, each theme dictating the nature of the observations for one week for each case. Week 1 will focus upon contextual data such as the classroom characteristics, learning materials, décor, participants and their interactions. Week 2 will focus upon ECCE activities and week 3 will focus upon the ECCE educators’ interactions with the children in their care and other adults. If required, I can change the order of the observations or use multiple protocols simultaneously. The content of the observation protocols are informed by the research fields of ECD (Erikson, 1950; Bowlby, 1988) and ECCE (Lord & McFarland, 2010;

Sajaniemi, et al. 2011).

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Contextual data.

Ecce Educator: ECCE Institute: Date: Observer Participation/Participant Observation: Observation #: # Students: # Adults:

Observer notes.

Ecce Educator: ECCE Institute: Date: Observer Participation/Participant Observation: Observation #: # Students: # Adults:

Activities

Area of Focus Description

What activities are carried out?

How are the activities planned?

What goals drive the activities?

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Why are these activities chosen?

What role do children play in the activities?

Who are involved in implementing the activities?

How do ECCE educators use educational materials?

How do ECCE educators evaluate the activities?

What role does care play in the activities?

How is the communication between the staff during the activities?

How is the communication between the ECCE educators and children during the activities?

What role does timing play in the activities?

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How are the physical settings utilized during the activities?

How are the children’s interactions during the activities?

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Ecce Educator: ECCE Institute: Date: Observer Participation/Participant Observation: Observation #: # Students: # Adults:

ECCE Educator Interactions

Area of Focus Description

What types language do the ECCE educators’ use in their interactions with children (commanding, supporting)?

What role does the gender of the ECCE educator play?

Do ECCE educators’ use physical contact with children, give hugs, comfort if a child hurts itself?

Do children frequently approach ECCE educators with questions and ideas?

Do ECCE educators interact equally with all the children?

How long are the typical ECCE educator child interactions?

How do the ECCE educators negotiate the children’s interactions with each other?

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How do the ECCE educators negotiate conflict?

Do the ECCE educators raise their voices and in what situations?

How do the ECCE educators support the children with problem solving?

How are the ECCE educators’ interactions with the parents?

Do the ECCE educators appear to be stressed?

In what ways does the curriculum influence ECCE educator praxis?

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Appendix D

Additional Photographs

Lebanese Kindergarten; View From KG3 Classroom

Lebanese Kindergarten; View of Atrium

Lebanese Kindergarten; KG2 Playground

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Lebanese Kindergarten; KG3 Cloakroom

Lebanese Kindergarten; KG3 Timetable

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Lebanese Kindergarten; Letterland Class Book, Phonics Level 1

Lebanese Kindergarten; Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Practice Masters Workbook

Lebanese Kindergarten; Circle Time Teaching Materials

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Lebanese Kindergarten; Children’s Artwork

Lebanese Kindergarten; KG3 Report Card

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Danish Kindergarten; Housing Estate Where Danish Kindergarten is Located

Danish Kindergarten; Unisex Bathroom

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Danish Kindergarten; Activity/Dinning Area

Danish Kindergarten; the Playground

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Danish Kindergarten; Covered Fireplace

Danish Kindergarten; Milk Crates

Danish Kindergarten; Events Board

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